Cloudy Implications
by Angel Soleil
Summary: Ulrich unconsciously tries to keep Odd from the same problems he had with Yumi.When Kiks admits that she has a connection to Xana,and a deadly Lyoko form, will the group still welcome her?YU-OK-JA.Lat. Chaps, after tragedy, are Odd and Kiks gone forever?
1. The Arrival of Kiaka

  
  
Cloudy Implications  
  
The Arrival of Kiaka.  
  
"This blows." Odd said to Ulrich and Jeremie who were sitting behind him, while watching his teacher lecture. She had been going on for 15 minutes and had already managed to put half of the students to sleep.  
"Ulrich? Did you even hear me??" He asked.  
"What?" Ulrich replied, coming out of the daze he had seemed to be in. He had been thinking about Yumi, which explained his odd attitude toward things. Every time he thought about her he couldn't keep himself from smiling. If only I could tell her how I feel about her.  
"Yeah I heard you Odd... but what do you me to do about this boring lecture?"  
Odd shrugged and put his forehead down on the desk.  
The teacher paused for a moment at the sound of tapping on the door. As she opened it, the principal became visible along with a girl their age.  
"Hey, you're not going to go on a rant about this being Aelita are you Jeremie?" Ulrich questioned.  
"Give it up already, you know that the other girl did kindof look like Aelita. This one... not a bit."  
"She's pretty." Odd said quietly, looking at the girl.  
The girl had long brown hair, and was wearing a white tank top, and a short black skirt with a pair of knee high black boots.  
"Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to introduce you to a new student. This is Kiaka. Why don't you tell your fellow students where you're from Kiaka?"  
She looked at him uneasily. "I'd rather not. They probably haven't heard of it anyway."  
"Just give it a shot."  
"I've lived in a lot of places." She said. He gestured for her to go on. "The last place I lived was a place called Lyoko. You wouldn't have heard of it." She said anxiously.  
"How could she be from Lyoko, Jeremie?!" Ulrich whispered.  
"I don't know... maybe we should talk to her." He responded.  
"Not me. I've already got girl problems." Ulrich said.  
"How about you go sit down over there next to Odd?" They heard the teacher tell Kiaka.  
Within a few moments she had reached the desk looking very timid. The teacher had continued to ramble before she had sat down, so she took her seat as quietly as she could. Jeremie poked Odd in the back.  
"So... you're from Lyoko?" He asked her. She gave him an awkward glance.  
"Oh, sorry... my name's Odd. It's nice to meet you... Kiaka.. right?"  
She nodded her head to him in agreement. He thought for a moment before responding again.  
"Can I call you Kiks? It's easier to remember." He asked, leaning his head on his hand and looking at her.  
"Sure... I don't like my name anyway. People always get stupid nicknames like kiki and Kiki Monster out of it."  
"But Kiks doesn't bother you?"  
"Nah." She answered, shaking her head. "You know about Lyoko?"  
"Yeah. I'm a Xana fighter I suppose you would say. How do you... how did you live there?"  
"I don't know how I got there. I just did, I went through visualation somehow... I'm just not sure how. I was practically turned into a computer program by Xana. He tried to turn me into one of his annoying henchmen, but it didn't work out. I escaped from him and ran into Aelita... do you know her?"  
"Do I ever. The love of her life's sitting right behind you."  
Kiks glanced at Jeremie.  
"You're Jeremie?" At the sound of his name he began to blush.  
"Aelita told you about me?"  
"Of course. She says you're her best friend...and that you're trying to materialize her..."  
"Yeah."  
"So far all he's gotten is a piece of her hair." Ulrich chimed in.  
"And what's your name?" Kiks asked.  
"Ulrich. You'll have to meet Yumi. She's the other one of us."  
"Out of curiosity, did you just kill yourself in Lyoko to get materialized?"  
"No Xana made that impossible. I was attached to an odd sort of router... where he could let me leave, but my only way out was threw him." "So how did you get out?"  
"I don't remember... I'm sorry. I think I went threw and outlet just like he does, but it's still hazy."  
"Understandable." Jeremie replied. "How long have you been out?"  
"A few days."  
"Would you like to see Aelita?"  
"I'd love to!"  
"Just follow us after class."  
  
As they walked down the hallway towards Jeremie's room, Kiks and Jeremie talked a lot about mistakes in the materialization process, and kept a few paces ahead of Odd and Ulrich.  
"Is something wrong Ulrich? Don't you like Kiks?" Odd asked.  
"Yeah. She's cool I guess. I just don't like the idea of working with something that Xana made."  
"That's someone and he didn't make her. I'd just think of her as a good bad guy. Could only help us right?"  
"Yeah."  
"That's not what's wrong with you... you're thinking about Yumi again aren't you?"  
"What would make you think that?"  
"You get all quiet and daze-like when you think of Yumi."  
Ulrich's face began to turn red.  
"It's okay Ulrich... we all know you like her. Maybe you should just tell her?"  
"It's not that easy. You wouldn't understand! Just leave me alone for a little while okay, Odd?"  
Odd gave an unwilling nod as they all walked into Jeremie's room. Jeremie turned on the computer and called for Aelita, within a moment she had appeared on the screen.  
"Jeremie. Hi!"  
"Look who we found Aelita. She says she knows you."  
Aelita turned and looked to the other side, her vision setting on Kiks.  
"Kiaka! Nice to see you made it out... soon I should be materialized like you. Right Jeremie?"  
"Right."  
"Have you met everyone yet?"  
"Everyone but Yumi." Jeremie responded for her.  
"What do you think of the guys?"  
"They're all very nice Aelita. You have very caring friends."  
Aelita smiled and began to speak more when the door opening interrupted the conversation. Yumi walked in casually, saying hello to Odd and Ulrich when she noticed the new comer.  
"Who are you?" She asked confusedly.  
"I'm Kiaka... I'm new here."  
"Odd nicknamed her Kiks. Seems to stick easy enough." Ulrich said quietly without looking at Yumi.  
  
"She's from Lyoko Yumi!" Odd exclaimed happily. "She's going to help us out... aren't you?"  
"You... want me to?" She asked in a shocked tone.  
"Well of course! It would even us out... three girls and three guys? Why not?"  
"Because I'm not..." She fell into silence.  
"Because Xana made you?" Ulrich asked, still avoiding eye contact. Everyone looked at him and quickly back to Kiks. She nodded.  
"I should go. I have to find out where I'm staying." She headed for the door with her head down.  
"Hey now!" Yumi said, grabbing her by the arm. "You don't even know what room you're staying in?"  
  
"No. I have to go ask the principal."  
"You can stay with me." Yumi resolved. "Here. Uh—go to room 113, and wait for me there. Make yourself at home."  
"Thank you." Kiks said, nodding her gratitude to Yumi and walking out the door silently. Once she had left everyone turned and looked at Ulrich.  
"What was that all about Ulrich?"  
"She was made by Xana. I just thought that that might have been why she was hesitant about joining us. I mean, what if she's one of Xana's pawns. What if she's just here to cause problems?"  
"Ulrich, she's there to escape from Xana. I can assure you that she is not one of Xana's warriors. She fights for good, I know... I've seen her." Aelita said quietly. "She's saved my life on multiple occasions. Xana is after her because she poses a threat to him. Kiaka, or Kiks if you will, was made for his use... so he put many features into her programming that could help you. For one, she can sense me and give you a fairly accurate reading of where I am at all times based on my computer code. Not to mention that her Lyokian form is an upgraded version of Odd's."  
"She has my form?" Odd asked.  
"It's more advanced than yours."  
"What else can she do? Is she special enough to disable towers?" Jeremie joked.  
"Actually... Yes." Aelita answered. "Not disable them, but she has a code that can pause their actions until I get around to disable them."  
The whole group gaped at the computer intelligence.  
"And I take it that that is the main reason that Xana is after her?" Ulrich commented.  
Aelita nodded.  
"Well then what are we waiting for?!" Odd shouted. "I say we get Ulrich to go apologize and add her to our team. After all... we are a giant group on Xana wanted, aren't we?"  
"You think she's pretty." Jeremie said.  
"Well..." He blushed. "That too I guess."  
They all laughed.  
"I'll go talk to her." Yumi said as she walked out of the room.  
Ulrich watched her leave and watched the door after she had gone. Jeremie had just finished powering down the computer, Aelita's last words reaching out to Ulrich. 'Please give her a chance Ulrich.' So I know that I can trust her. But how much could she possibly help? One of these days Xana is going to get the best of us. We've already lost Aelita once.  
"Come on Odd, we should probably go ahead and leave."  
"Alright. See you tomorrow Jeremie." He said as he followed Ulrich out. 


	2. Tales of Woe

Tales of Woe  
  
The room had just started to come into focus for Ulrich when a blurry blonde object appeared over his head. He could tell from the conspicuous spot of purple that it was Odd, leaning over him.  
"What do you want Odd?" He asked sleepily.  
"Did you mean what you said yesterday? About not liking Kiks?"  
"I never said I didn't like her." He replied, reaching for a pair of pants on a chair next to his bed.  
"You were thinking it though."  
"No I wasn't. I just wasn't in a very good mood, that's all."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well do you mind getting into a good mood?"  
"What is with you?" Ulrich asked his friend, freezing what he had been doing and staring at him suspiciously.  
"What's that supposed to mean? There's nothing with me. I just want to know why you don't like her, because it has to be more than this whole 'Xana made her' thing."  
"Odd, why does it matter? It's just an instinct. Why do you care?"  
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe the rest of us like her?"  
"Yes. I realized that, and I'm not stopping you from hanging out with her."  
"Really? It seemed like that was exactly what you were doing when you insulted her last night."  
"Insulted her?" Ulrich asked. "I thought we already discussed this. Listen, I'm going to apologize to her Odd, so stop freaking out. Aelita made me realize that she can help us, so I'll talk to her and everything will be fine."  
"Aelita made you realize that she could help us? So you're going to walk up the her and say 'hey Kiks, I decided that you could fight for us and help us out so.. that's the reason I'm going to allow you to talk to me. Sorry I called you a product of Xana.'? Ulrich, if someone said what you said to you, how could you ever feel comfortable with them?" There was a look of desolation in the blonde haired boys eyes as he spoke, a look that made Ulrich feel as if he had just stabbed his friend.  
"I'm sorry Odd. I know that there is no way I could possibly make it up to her, but for your sake I'll try." Odd nodded his head in forgiveness and turned to pick a shirt up off of his bed. With his back facing Ulrich, he began to speak softly.  
"It wasn't because of Xana, Ulrich."  
"What?"  
"The reason you didn't like her... It had nothing to do with Xana."  
"Then what was it? I don't randomly dislike girls you know." He smiled.  
"It was because... because she was a girl."  
"But I just said—"  
"I know what you said. But you don't understand." He turned around and looked at Ulrich from across the 5 foot gap in between their beds. "Ever since that letter that Sissy pranked you with, you've been thinking about Yumi a lot more. You know that you love her, and it was hard for you to figure that out."  
Ulrich sat quietly, not saying a word, but looking at his friend.  
"When you found out that you liked Yumi... you decided that you didn't want other girls around. Aelita you could stand, you knew her, and you knew that her and Jeremie were going to end up together... But when you saw Kiks—"  
"I'm not understanding any of this Odd."  
"Your first reaction was to think about everything you went through with Yumi. How you were afraid to tell her what you felt because you didn't want to ruin your friendship. Give it up Ulrich, you knew I liked her right away."  
"I didn't want you to have the same problem that I had." It finally dawned on him what Odd was trying to say.  
"You still are."  
"What?" He looked up in confusion.  
"Did you know that you mumble her name in your sleep?"  
"Whose?"  
"Yumi's. Just the thought of her or the mention of her name is like torture for you, man." Odd had gotten up and walked over to take a seat next to Ulrich on his bed. His tone had now changed from anger and sadness to worry. "She's all you think about."  
"I know... I just..." He looked down, trying to find the words to describe what he was going through, but they never came.  
"You need to tell her how you feel. I know that all that's running through your head is what things could be like. Why don't you just take a chance and tell her? You'll feel better. For all you know, she might just not be able to tell you how she feels. I've heard that girls like it when guys get all sentimental and stuff." He teased.  
Ulrich smiled. "Yeah, maybe you're right. What harm can it do?"  
A devious countenance poured over Odd's face. "Just wreck your friendship and make Yumi never want to speak to you again."  
"I'll pretend that you didn't just say that." Ulrich said as he stood up, threw a pillow in Odd's face and began to laugh.  
"So what's it gonna be?" Odd asked him, with an air of suspense.  
Ulrich picked up his cell phone and waved it back and forth in front of him.  
"What are you going to do with that?"  
Without answering, Ulrich pushed a speed dial number and held the phone to his ear. "Yumi? Hey, it's me. I don't mean to bother you... but I need to talk to you, can you spare a moment before class? Thanks."  
"You dog." Odd wailed, throwing the pillow back at him.  
  
Odd had walked into Ms. Hertz' science class alone, since Ulrich had gone to speak with Yumi and Jeremie had decided to stay and work on a new computer program a bit longer.  
As he entered, he noticed that everyone had chosen to take up one seat in the two person desks and leave the other empty, which left him plenty of places to sit... with people he didn't want to sit with. That was—until his eyes focused on Kiks. He walked over to where she was seated and caught her attention.  
"Do you mind if I sit with you?"  
"Oh... Odd, hey! Of course, go ahead!" She beamed up at him.  
Once he was seated he leaned over so that he was closer to her and began to whisper.  
"You know that Ulrich didn't mean to offend you or anything, right? You weren't to upset, were you?"  
  
"Nah. I would have reacted the same way. So... what's going on between him and Yumi? They like each other, right?"  
"So it would seem."  
"Oh, I meant to tell you thank you."  
"What for?" Odd asked her.  
"For being so nice to me. It really made me feel a lot less nervous about being here in a new place. So... thank you."  
Odd began to blush.  
"No prob."  
She smiled at him for a moment, when the door opened and Ulrich entered. He took a seat behind Odd and put his head down.  
"What's wrong?" Odd asked him.  
"I couldn't do it."  
"What!? No way!"  
Ulrich looked at him. I knew I wouldn't be able to.  
"I tried, but all that came out was 'Yumi, you rock.'"  
"I know she didn't actually believe that that was what you wanted to talk to her about."  
"She didn't. I told her that I wanted her help with a school assignment."  
"Smart."  
Ulrich waved him off and turned his attention to Kiks.  
"I'm really sorry about last night. I didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome."  
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Like I told Odd, I would have done the same thing. Of course, that was exactly what I had intended to say... the thing about Xana... but I wasn't sure if it would sound weird."  
"It wouldn't have. Listen, it doesn't matter that Xana programmed you, you're still a good guy, right?"  
Kiks nodded happily.  
"Then that's settled, you're one of us."  
She gave him a quick and unexpected hug over the desk before turning back around and giving the teacher her attention. Ulrich shrugged.  
"Happy?" He mouthed to Odd, who nodded his head and said a silent thanks.  
  
Yumi walked quietly around the halls, not wanting to go back to her class. Something felt wrong to her, unusual, so she had asked to go to the nurse. Of course, having no intention of actually going to the infirmary she walked instead, looking down the corridors for anything suspicious. She almost prayed for something to be wrong, she liked times when she could go to Lyoko since it gave her a chance to be with Ulrich.  
Come on, I know Xana's up to something; I can feel it. Her thoughts changed for a moment. If he is up to something, it probably has something to do with getting Kiks back in Lyoko. I can't let anything happen to her, she's a really sweet girl.  
There was nothing substantial enough to give blame to Xana at that moment, but she knew she would find something soon.  
Maybe Aelita can tell me if there is something wrong in Lyoko, then I would know if my instinct is right.  
She headed in the direction of Jeremie's room. She would just go in and ask Aelita, then be out and back to class in a few moments. As she approached the door, she heard speaking within.  
"I don't want to let her go back into Lyoko Aelita, I think Odd likes her, and I don't want Xana to get his hands on her... admit it, if what you told us were true, then she's a walking arsenal."  
"I understand Jeremie, but she may be safer in Lyoko if Xana attacks. She is much stronger in Lyoko than she is out there, and I have no doubt that she can protect herself a bit longer. If he comes looking for her out there though—"  
"Then Ulrich and Odd will protect her. Or Yumi. We won't let her get hurt Aelita."  
"I'm just not sure how she would take that, she's never needed protection before. She may begin to consider herself weak and vulnerable... I'm not sure that it's good for her."  
Yumi decided to use this pause in conversation to her advantage and knock quietly on the door.  
"Who is it?" Jeremie's voice called out.  
"Yumi." She answered quietly.  
"Come on in."  
She walked in awkwardly, knowing she had interrupted their conversation.  
"What's wrong?"  
"I just... I have a weird feeling."  
"About what?" Aelita asked, a note of concern in her voice.  
"Um... well it's a Xana feeling. Can you check and see if anything is wrong there in Lyoko?"  
"Of course."  
"I'll check for activated towers if you'd like Yumi."  
"Please."  
Jeremie had been pacing the room when he had been speaking to Aelita before, and now he sat down to the desk and began typing in sequences on his keyboard.  
"That's weird." He said a moment later.  
"What?"  
"This tower isn't activated, but it's giving out an odd reading. Like it's in between or something."  
"That doesn't sound good."  
Aelita reappeared on the screen. "This is very strange. There are crabs and other monsters everywhere..."  
"And why aren't you running?!" Jeremie howled.  
"Because—they aren't moving. They're just sitting there, doing nothing."  
  
"We should check this out. I can get Odd and Ulrich and be in the factory in 15 minutes, will you meet us there, Jeremie?"  
"'Course. What about Kiks?"  
"We can take her with us, and she can stay in the lab with you."  
Without listening for a reply, Yumi bolted out of the room and down the hall. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Odd's number, knowing that he could mastermind a plan to get them out of class, as well as knowing that he was most likely sitting nearest to Kiks.  
  
"Huh?" Odd said to himself as his pocket began to vibrate. He removed his cell phone and looked at the text message that had just been sent. It was from Yumi, asking him and Ulrich to meet her outside the school. He turned and glanced at Kiks who had been looking at him since he pulled out his cell phone. He turned, to see Ulrich with his head down on the table.  
Leaning close to Kiks he said, "Yumi wants us to go down to the factory because something's weird in Lyoko. Are you up to getting us out of here?"  
"How?"  
"Just tell the teacher you don't feel good and need to go to the nurse, then ask if I can show you the way there."  
"What about him?" She asked, pointing at Ulrich.  
"Point out that he doesn't look so good."  
She nodded and raised her hand, putting on a pained face.  
"What is it Kiaka?" The teacher asked her.  
"Ms. Hertz, I'm not feeling very well, do you think I could go to the nurse?"  
"Of course." Kiks stood up quietly, and noticed that Ms. Hertz had already turned around.  
"Do you think that someone could show me where it is? I never got a proper tour of the school."  
The teacher nodded in compliance. "Odd, take her to the nurse."  
Odd smiled at her, but before she had a chance to ask about Ulrich, he had caught on.  
"I'm feeling pretty poorly myself Ms. Hertz."  
"Go Ulrich."  
He waited for Kiks and Odd to exit before following. Just as she said, Yumi was waiting outside of the school when they made it there.  
"So what's the problem?" Ulrich asked.  
"There's a tower..."  
"Activated."  
"No... but not deactivated either."  
"Oh." Odd said.  
They walked in silence to the entrance of the factory.  
"Home sweet home." Ulrich commented as they entered.  
"You don't have to be so excited." Odd retorted sarcastically.  
Stepping into the elevator, Ulrich and Yumi reached for the button at the same time, their hands touching momentarily. They both pulled away and blushed trying not to show that anything was different, an action that Odd and Kiks both noticed. Odd turned quietly and looked at Kiks, who giggled silently.  
"I don't understand why people don't just tell the other person when they like each other." He whispered.  
"Come on, they just don't want to make things weird between them."  
"In case you didn't notice, they already are."  
"Hey Kiks, for future reference, if you ever need to get into the lab you just have to push this access code." Ulrich said, demonstrating the proper sequence for her.  
Kiks signaled that she understood as the doors opened.  
"Finally." Jeremie said as the walked into the lab. "Okay, Odd, Yumi and Ulrich, you guys are going to go to the scanner room. You're going into Lyoko."  
"What about Kiks?" Odd asked.  
"Me and Aelita have agreed that it would be best for her to sit this one out. She can stay up here with me, considering that we have to re-wire her to our computers anyway. That alone may take a little while. If you guys need help, I'll send her in."  
"No you won't. The only way I want you to send her in is if all three of us go down." Ulrich said calmly.  
"If all three of us are down, then it probably means that there are mega foes in there ... It means that she'll get knocked down in a second. I say she either goes in with us now or she won't go in today at all." Odd added.  
Yumi had finally heard enough about whether or not Kiks would go. First Aelita and Jeremie, now Ulrich and Odd adding their ideas. "Okay, so she stays here for today. In the mean time Aelita needs our help. We're going down Jeremie." They walked out and headed down to the scanner room. Once they were out of hearing distance of Jeremie and Kiks Odd began to speak again. "You think she's really fine with us leaving her here?" "She didn't say anything." "Yeah... but... she's Aelita's friend too." "Can I tell you guys something?" Yumi asked. "Sure." "Aelita thought that she should go with us. She said she would be safer in Lyoko. I overheard her and Jeremie talking about it." "Then why is she staying here?!" Odd asked skeptically. "Because Jeremie always wins." Ulrich said. "She might be stronger in Lyoko, but she has us to protect her here." "Yeah... about that..." Odd said, stopping and waving his hand in the air for attention. "Please note that we're not going to be here because we'll be in Lyoko... leaving her with just Jeremie to protect her. Give it a break, if Xana comes along and challenges him to a math duel, then she'll be safe, otherwise she's doomed." "Then we need to move fast." Yumi said, entering the scanner. "You guys ready?" Jeremie's voice said through the intercom. "Yeah." "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scan Odd. Scan Ulrich. Scan Yumi... Visualization." He said, sending them into Lyoko. 


	3. Back to Lyoko

Back to Lyoko  
  
"Aelita... do you know where this tower is or do we need to ask Jeremie for assistance?" "He told me about it earlier. It's here in the forest region, I should be able to find it easily." The group began to walk. Now would be a perfect time to talk to her... Ulrich thought. He was walking directly beside Yumi, and was peeking out the corner of his eye at her every time she looked the other way. One of these days she's going to catch me looking at her. Might as well tell her before then. His thoughts were interrupted by Jeremie's frantic voice. "You have a lot of enemies heading towards you guys." "Which direction?" Yumi asked. "Actually... All of them, at least 4 flanks of crabs on each side of you." "Thanks for warning us so soon." Ulrich said cynically. "They weren't there a minute ago! The computer alarm went off to signal that there were enemies, I looked over and there weren't any, so I went back to reprogramming Kiks. It went off again, I looked, nothing there... then BAM! They appeared, OUT OF NOWHERE!" "Strange." Aelita commented. "I wonder how far away they are." "You can stop wondering!" Odd shouted, jumping in front of her as fleets of crabs started advancing. "LASER ARROWS!" He yelled, shooting down 2 of the crabs and jumping out of the way of several more lasers that were shooting at him. Yumi had done the same thing from the other side, throwing her 2 fans and knocking out 3 of the crabs progressing on her side. After a few moments, they were all back-to-back, trying to turn so that all the crabs would be on one side of them, with no success.  
  
"They're surrounded!" Kiks cried nervously. "You finished reprogramming me, now you have to let me help them!" "No way." Jeremie replied. "Ulrich told me not to send you in, and so did Odd. When Odd says don't send you in, that's the way it's going to be." "If they materialize right now, there is no way that Aelita's going to make it out of there. I'm a lot stronger than them at this point in time, look." She said, pointing at the life points on the screen, which had fallen unusually low. "Just let me go in. I've learned quite a few things about these enemies, surprise is how they work, and its how they get killed to. If I surprise them, I can knock them all out at once. Please Jeremie. I know you don't want anything to happen to Aelita and the others." Jeremie looked at her contemplatively, and finally replied. "Fine. I'll send you in, but you are going to be REALLY careful, and if anyone asks you pressured me." "Deal. Where's the scanner room?" He gestured to the door with his head. "Hurry." "You bet. Just make sure you don't fall out of your chair when you see my form." "Cocky... just like Odd." "That hurt more than what Ulrich said to me last night." She joked, dropping down the shaft. She hurried over into one of the scanners and signaled to Jeremie. "Here goes nothing. Transfer Kiks. Scan Kiks. Visualization!" 


	4. Rescue Mission

Really sorry that this is all blocky and stuff, but it uploads weird, so this is the best I can do. Love ya!

Rescue Mission?  
  
Kiks appeared in Lyoko much higher than the others had, and her arrival was marked by a bright flash of light that flooded the computer world for a fraction of a second. Jeremie laughed to himself. "Yeah, you definitely have the element of surprise. Even I saw that!"  
  
"Good." Aelita said as the flash of light faded away.

"Was that a 'good' as in the bright flashy thing is going to help us... or kill us?" Odd asked.

"I have no doubt that that was a 'good, it's coming to kill us.' Honestly Odd, how could Aelita say 'good' sarcastically?" Yumi answered.

"Yumi... a washing machine could be sarcastic when placed in this position!"  
  
Still hovering in the air before her drop, Kiks looked down and surveyed the area, as well as herself. Everything was at she remembered it, except for she was now white instead of black. A pair of knee high white boots decorated her legs, a white peasant top shirt exposed her stomach and the burgundy tiger stripes on her hips. Her hair was the same as it had been, minus the white cat ears protruding from the top of her head. Two red stripes crossed her face under her eyes, and a white and red striped cat tail extended beyond her rear end. A burgundy wrap around skirt finished off her attire.

She turned her attention to the ground. There were more enemies here than she expected but she was still confident. _Hit as many from the air as possible_. If I can send my attacks straight down, they should hit them perfectly square in the eye. She decided. As her drop began, she crossed the threshold into a free fall. The same sort of free fall used to change position from inside a tower. She came down quickly, but not too fast for her to begin her attack. Falling head first, she placed her arms in front of her, aiming the bracelets on her wrists carefully.

"ACID RAIN!" She yelled, tons of sparks flying downward and hitting all of her targets, a fourth of the crabs. Landing gracefully on the ground like a cat, the crabs locked onto her, shooting lasers from all sides and forcing her to dodge the shots. She kicked one of the crabs out of her way and instigated the second part of her plan. Running away from the spot where the others were standing she used herself as a decoy to pull all the crabs to one side.  
  
"Was that?!" Odd asked in astonishment.

"Don't worry about that now... just FIGHT!" Ulrich yelled, running past three crabs and pushing his sword into each of them.

Yumi had run ahead to give Kiks support. She knew exactly who it had been since Kiks had told her about her form all last night.

"Kiks?!" She cried, wondering where the other girl had gone.

"MULTIPLY!" Screamed Kiks voice, and within seconds 3 copies of the girl were dropping from a nearby tree. The attack didn't have much use, since all three of her copies were shot down as soon as they touched the ground. "WONDERFUL!" came the sound of Kiks' irritated and disappointed voice. "AHHH!!" She flipped herself up in the air and landed in front of a crab, causing the others to shoot at her. Before the laser hit her she jumped into the air again, the end result being one crab killed by the others.

"Take that you good for nothing creeps!" But she had spoken to soon, a moment later she was knocked out of the air by several lasers, sending her flying into another tree.

"KIKS! YOU JUST DROPPED ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 20 LIFE POINTS! BE CAREFUL!!"

Yumi ran in Kiks direction, throwing both of her fans, which sliced through the remaining crabs in their area. She reached the new ally as she reopened her eyes after the last blow.

"60 to 20 in a split second. I'm very impressed with myself."

"Come on, I'll help you up." Yumi said, taking her hand. "We need to get back and help Ulrich and Odd, they're still over run."

"You mean that all of those crabs didn't follow me?!" "Not all of them." "OH man!" The disappointment could be heard in her voice again. As they ran into the clearing where Odd and Ulrich were fighting to protect Aelita, it came to Kiks' attention that she hadn't even lured half of the crabs away.

"I'm SICK OF THIS!" She yelled furiously. She jumped into the air and thrust her arms out in opposite directions, leaning slightly back she began to glow. "Self destruct!" She exclaimed quietly as not to scare the other members of the group._ Using an attack called 'self destruct' which causes me to materialize might not go so well with them._ Despite her attempt to keep the attack quiet, Odd caught it immediately and stared up at her. Several crabs sent lasers straight at him, which he did not dodge wondering what Kiks was up to. A large glowing sphere appeared around Kiks body, and grew to thee point where it enveloped the whole forest. The crabs malfunctioned and stopped fighting immediately, and Kiks began to materialize.

"What was that!?" Odd asked in confusion. "Did she run out of life points?"

"Its her favorite attack. She's never been able to use it before though, I'm not sure why she used it now..." Aelita told him. "Every time I've seen it used, its made its user pretty weak."  
  
"You mean she's _hurt_!?"

"Well... not necessarily. I've never seen her use that attack, Odd. But traditionally, if she were a Xana follower it would have killed us instead."

"She was made as a Xana follower... why didn't it?" Ulrich asked.

"I think Jeremie reprogrammed her for more than just a way to get in here. The last time I saw Kiaka; her outfit was black instead of white. She was probably purified."

"Remind me to praise Jeremie when we get out of here." Yumi said quietly.

"Aelita, you better run to that tower in case some more crabs decide to show up." Odd said, picking up a rock.  
  
"What do you plan to do with that Odd?"

"Materialize myself."

"With a rock?"

"Yeah.. I'll hit myself in the head and knock off my life points."

"Jeremie?" Yumi said.

"Yes Yumi?"

"How many life points does Odd have left?"

"A remarkable 30."

"If you plan to knock yourself out with a rock.. you have a lot of hitting to do."

"I'll transfer you back Odd."

"Thanks." Odd said after hitting himself in the head once.

Odd reappeared in the scanner a moment later, with Jeremie standing in front of him.

"What's up?"

"Kiks is rematerializing slower than you all do. I'm still waiting for her to show back up."

"You don't think that anything's wrong do you?"

"No... I think she's taking a while to rematerialize."

After a few minutes of waiting, Jeremie's theory was proven. Ulrich and Yumi had already materialized and were standing with Odd and Jeremie when Kiks feet began to appear.

"She's coming back differently than us." "I had a feeling that she would. She's coming back just as she left Lyoko."

When Kiks' whole body had reappeared it fell forward out of the scanner. Odd caught her as she opened her eyes.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?!"

"Don't be so gracious for the help that I gave you, jeez."

She pulled her arms up with all of her strength and pushed him away from her. "Its not like I did that to save your puny computer life." With this she walked away and climbed wearily up the hatch into the lab.

"Good one Odd. I don't suppose you could have just said _thank you_." Jeremie said in an annoyed tone.

"I was just worried about her, that's all."

"You were worried because you like her, just tell her that and she won't be mad at you." Ulrich said.

Odd turned to Ulrich furiously. "What would you know about telling a girl you like them." Ulrich's face turned bright red. "That's what I thought." Odd said as he stormed off into the elevator.

"Where's he going?" Jeremie asked.

"To pout about how he got Kiks mad at him." Yumi answered.

"You have to admit, that was pretty awesome." Jeremie said.

"What?"

"She claimed that she had the element of surprise before I let her go in, and when that blast of light when off I was hitting myself in the head. But I have to give it to her, she did know exactly what she was doing."

"Yeah... Aelita wasn't lying when she said that Kiks had an advanced Odd form either! That was a really cool form." Ulrich added.

"Like queen of the jungle... I love it!" Yumi said gleefully. "I'm glad she's on our team!"

"So am I." Ulrich replied.

_This is stupid. She gets mad at me for being worried? What's with that?! I thought girls liked guys to be worried. And what does Ulrich know. He's still going on about Yumi._ The elevator came to a halt and Odd walked out. _I have to apologize to her though. He might not be able to do it himself, but he_ has _learned_ something_ from me at least._

He stopped at the entrance to the factory and leaned up against the doorframe. Outside, he could see Kiks sitting on the bridge with her legs over the edge, throwing rocks out into the water. She had taken her boots off and pulled her hair back over her shoulder, allowing the sunlight to hit her face.

_She's so pretty_. Odd thought as he watched her. _Why would she ever like me? Especially when she could have strong samurai Ulrich or brainy Jeremie? What good am I? I'm just their comic relief._

Kiks turned and looked directly at Odd. She blushed and looked back out at the water.

_And now she knows that I was staring at her. Great. Just GREAT_.

"You could at least come over here and attempt to apologize to me." Kiks said, just loud enough to be heard, without looking away from the water.

_Wonderful. Now I get guilt tripped by the pretty girl._

He walked over and sat down a few feet away from her.

"That..." He said uncertainly. "Yeah, I really didn't mean anything bad by that... you just... kindof worried me, that's all."

"Reasonable. I was actually hoping that you wouldn't see exactly what I was up to. With an attack like that, I knew you all might be a little concerned. But in all honesty, I figured it would help. Maybe I was wrong?"

"No!" He said quickly. "It did help. It just..."

"What?"

"I didn't like the side effects you had to go through to do it. You got all, weak and stuff."

"Hmmm." She thought for a moment. "I thought that you take risks like that for people you like."

"Well—"He began to speak, but then pondered what she had said. "What do you mean by 'people you like'?"

She turned her head away swiftly, putting her hand up to mask her face. "You know... people you're friends with..."

He nodded. _That's it. Never mind any useless and pitiable feelings I may have had. She likes me. I know it. That gave it away. Good going Kiks_. "Right. Well... you know, friends also go and do fun things together."

"Huh?" She said, turning back to face him.  
  
"You know, do fun stuff. Not that there are many fun things to do here."

"Oh, right. Does Ulrich take Yumi to do the type of fun things you're talking about?"

Odd's mouth fell open, but he closed it fast._ Darn. She caught me._ "No."

"Oh."

"Ulrich doesn't take Yumi to do the type of fun things I'm talking about because Ulrich..."

"Yes?"

"Is a chicken who won't tell Yumi that he likes her." He finished.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Kiks asked jokingly.

"No, of course not. Why would I?"

"Oh... to bad. I thought for a minute there that you... I don't know...liked me or something. Of course that would be insane right? I mean we just met each other yesterday." She said pulling her boots back on and walking a little ways down the bridge.

_She is LOVING this torture... isn't she?_

"That's really hateful."

"What?"

"' Oh, whoops. I'm going to pretend that I think you don't like me so that I can MAKE you say that you do.' It's hateful." Kiks giggled uncontrollably.

"Well you know what?" He asked, putting his arm around her. "I'm not going to."

"Really."

"Yep."

"You don't really like me do you?"

"Of course I like you."

"Yeah, you're not going to say it."

"Let me just make mention... Girls... are EVIL." She laughed again.


	5. Redundant Tears

5. Redundant Tears  
  
"It looks like they made up just fine." Ulrich said from the factory door, noticing Odd and Kiks at the end of the bridge.  
"I'd say they must have done more than make up." Jeremie retorted.  
"Who cares? They're not holding grudges against each other, so it doesn't matter." Yumi said. "If they have something going on that they want us to know about, then they'll tell us... until then we're just going to pretend that we don't notice."  
"Is that what you do when its you?" Ulrich asked.  
"Huh?"  
"When you notice that someone likes you for instance. Do you pretend you don't notice?"  
"I think that if a person likes me, its best not to question them until they're ready to tell me. So in a way, sure." She said as she walked past them and dropped down into the sewer.  
"_Amazing_."  
"Aelita doesn't know what pretending is, so I won't ever have to worry about that." Jeremie responded lightheartedly as they followed Yumi.  
  
"Come on. We'll follow them." Odd told Kiks while tugging on her arm.  
  
"Hey wait up!" He yelled to Ulrich and Jeremie just as they dropped down the manhole. When Kiks had gotten down, she ran over to Ulrich.  
"Hi."  
He looked at her. "Hi."  
"What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Why are you talking to me?"  
"Why are you being mean to me?"  
"Why do you think I'm being mean to you?"  
"It's called tone Ulrich. Along with choice of words." She responded.  
"Sorry. I really don't want you to think I'm being mean, but I'm not having a very good day."  
"Because of a girl?" She asked.  
"Why would you think that?"  
"WELLLL... It's pretty obvious, even to me, that you like Yumi... and Yumi just walked away from you... which would leave me with the impression that she said or did something to upset you... or you did something to upset her..."  
"You saw that?"  
"Maaaayyyybbbeee."  
"Is it really that obvious that I like Yumi?"  
"Let me think..." She pretended to ponder the subject. "Yeah." She said quickly, nodding her head.  
"Any suggestions?"  
"Tell her?"  
"Astounding! That's what everyone else said too." He countered sarcastically.  
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe they're saying that because its true?"  
"That might be... but I've already tried... it doesn't work."  
"Then you could be like Odd." She said, gesturing at the blonde. "Beat around the bush and suggest it, without saying it."  
"Is that what he did?"  
"Yep."  
_I don't know whether to call him a genius or a moron_.  
"Listen Ulrich, Yumi likes you. You shouldn't be so worried about what she's going to say. Even if she were to reject you, which is VERY unlikely, she would still respect you more because you finally told her. Just think... if it's this obvious to us, how obvious it must be to her."  
"If that's the case, why can't she act like she likes me back."  
"She does. Haven't you noticed how she blushes every time you say something nice to her? Or how about in the elevator?"  
"Okay. So maybe hearing this from a girl was a little helpful." He said, looking at the brown haired girl next to him.  
"I'm glad to hear that. Now why don't you run up there and tell her?"  
"I'll do it later. I have to compose myself first."  
"Okay. Well, if you need any help... feel free to ask, I'm always here."  
"Thanks."  
"Now you just have to work on not being in a bad mood every time I try to talk to you."  
"You can count on it."  
  
"Odd..."  
"Yeah Jeremie?"  
"Do you think that me and Aelita would be like girlfriend and boyfriend if she were here?"  
"Of course. I couldn't imagine it any other way."  
"Well... She calls me her best friend. I'm not sure that she even knows I have actual feelings for her."  
"If she doesn't now, she will when she's out of there. Has Kiks been able to help you any on that materialization program?"  
"We haven't had any time." He said as they emerged into open air.  
"What about when we were in Lyoko?"  
"When you were in Lyoko... she was to busy having a panic attack and trying to talk me into letting her go."  
"Oh. Sorry about that."  
"Even if she wasn't, I was busy working on her program."  
"Oh yeah! Aelita said you reprogrammed her completely! Thanks!"  
"I didn't really do anything Odd. All I did was rewire her to our scanners."  
"But—"  
"I swear, I didn't mess with her programming."  
"Then how come..." He thought for a minute. "Aelita said that her outfit had been black instead of white, and that her 'self destruct' program, was originally supposed to knock us out."  
"I couldn't tell you. I just know that I didn't have anything to do with it."  
"Should we tell Yumi and Ulrich?"  
"Yumi and Ulrich yes...Kiks no. We should keep it quiet until we figure it out."  
"Actually... Maybe just Yumi... I don't want to give Ulrich any other reasons to not like Kiks, if this turns about to be something psycho." Odd said quietly.  
"Well we know that she's on our side now, so I don't think we have to worry. For all we know, she might have reprogrammed herself deliberately."  
"Is that possible?"  
"Sure. Its really hard to do... _and not very likely_. But she is very strong in Lyoko and if anyone could have pulled it off, it would have been her."  
  
Ulrich ran as fast as he could through the woods. While he had been talking to Kiks, he had fallen behind Yumi to a point where he couldn't see her anymore.  
_Where is she?! He thought to himself. There's no way that she was this far ahead of me. I should have caught up with her by now.  
_ Dodging the low hanging tree branches, he scouted the area meticulously. When they had walked out of the sewer, Kiks pointed out that she couldn't see Yumi. Both of them had run ahead to try to find her, with no luck. They had split up so that Kiks could run back and tell Odd and Jeremie to help look, and Ulrich could search on his own until then.  
_ Is she trying not to be found... or has something happened to her?  
_ Looking down he noticed large shuffle marks in the grass, where dirt had been kicked up.  
"CRAP!" He said to himself, stopping and looking in all directions. "YUMI!" He yelled, listening for any sort of response.  
_ I don't know why I thought that she would answer anyway_. He thought. He continued to search anxiously on the ground for any other clues.  
"What's this?"  
  
"ODD! JEREMIE!" Kiks cried, coming to a stop just soon enough to avoid from running them over, but not soon enough to run into Odd arms.  
"What is it!?"  
"Yumi... me and Ulrich can't find her! We were walking then... she was gone... and ..."  
"Calm down!" Odd pleaded, grabbing her hard enough to stop her from having a nervous breakdown. "Alright... Now... Yumi's missing and you all can't find her? Right?"  
Kiks nodded.  
"We'll help find her. Come on Odd. Kiks, you lead the way." Jeremie said beginning to run.  
Kiks ran into the lead, going faster than Both Odd and Jeremie.  
"And I thought that keeping up with you was bad!" Jeremie said in between breaths to Odd.  
"If we ran at your normal pace we'd never find Yumi!"  
"I'm warning you now that you might be carrying me Odd!" He wailed as they followed Ulrich's path. Finally they could see him, bending over something on the ground.  
"You can stop running." Ulrich said in an inviting tone.  
"What about Yumi?!"  
  
"Ulrich... those are struggle marks, aren't they?" Jeremie said, pointing at the ground.  
"That's what I thought to, until I saw dog prints."  
"SHE WAS ATTACKED BY A DOG!?" Odd yelled incredulously.  
"No. She was playing with a dog... Yours."  
"Kiwi couldn't have gotten out... what are you talking about? How do you know?"  
Ulrich pointed a little ways away at a dog tag, neatly laid on the ground with writing beside it.  
"That's how."  
"So she found Kiwi out here, took of one of his tags and left it there? _Yeah right_. SOMEONE'S GOTTEN KIWI!"

"Calm down Odd."  
"Is Yumi one for practical jokes?" Kiks asked in confusion.  
"No. Ulrich is though."  
"Huh?"  
"A few weeks ago Ulrich pretended to have disappeared to freak Yumi out. Apparently she decided to return the favor." Jeremie replied.  
"THAT'S TERRIBLE!" Kiks shouted, punching Ulrich in the arm, just hard enough to cause pain.  
"What was that for!?"  
"I just ran half way across a forest... freaking out and having a nervous breakdown! And why!? BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO PLAY A JOKE ON YUMI!" She stomped off angrily.  
When she was far enough away that she couldn't hear anything, Odd and Jeremie began to roll on the ground in laughter.  
"ULRICH GOT BEAT UP BY A GIRL!" Odd howled, tears of laughter coming out of his eyes.  
"She _didn't_ beat me up."  
"She could have though!" Jeremie retorted. "Id say you finally met your match... in and out of Lyoko!"  
_ That was not cool... and she didn't mean to beat me up... or prove anything... she was just mad. That's ALL.  
_ Ulrich followed suit, and stormed away in the same direction that Kiks had, leaving Odd and Jeremie to get over themselves.


	6. Xana Attacks

Alrighty, heres another one guys... one section is uploaded weird, and this chapter changes points of view ALOT.. usually big space are POV changes... yeah... lots of thinking.Thanks for reviews! Love yeah!

6. Xana attacks  
  
_I can't believe she just did that to me_. Ulrich thought, walking back onto the school grounds._ Sure... maybe she did have a tolerable reason to... but still..._  
"Hi Ulrich."  
_Oh great. Just who I needed to talk to right now... Sissy_.  
"What do you want Sissy?"  
"Just to talk.. you look upset. Can I help? I bet I could be more useful than Yumi. "  
"I doubt it." He replied indifferently, walking past without looking at her.  
"Why do you like her anyway? She's so depressing."  
Ulrich didn't respond.  
"What is with you people?" She asked angrily.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Yumi came storming back onto the school grounds the same way you are... never mind that you all skipped out of classes... but now I try to talk to you and you try to bite my head off."  
_Skipped out of classes... Oh man.._. Aelita had been unable to do anything about the tower because it hadn't really been activated, therefore the return to the past program had never been used, causing the gang to have just skipped classes.  
"Ulrich? Can I talk to you?" Came another voice. Unmistakably the voice of Kiks, who other than Yumi was the only other member of the group to have reached the school.  
Ulrich turned quickly to her. "Of course."  
"What!? You'll talk to her but not me?! I demand an explanation!" Sissy yelled.  
Kiks shot a look of pure annoyance in her direction, causing her to ramble more.  
"Who are you anyway?" She asked in a superior tone of voice.  
"If you don't get away from me in the next five seconds, I'll be your worst nightmare." Kiks responded fiercely.  
"Who do you think you are? You think that you can boss me around? Well you can't!"  
Kiks stood rigid, with her head facing the ground and her eyes closed, and held up a fist to Sissy.  
"Sissy... if you don't want to end up with a black eye, then I suggest you not bug Kiks." Ulrich suggested.  
"_Kiks_? What kind of a name is that?"  
Finally Kiks had been pushed to the edge.  
"It's the nickname Odd gave me and _I like it_. Now get away! I don't want to hurt you!"  
"Its because won' t hurt me and I think I should tell you... If you have a crush on Odd..."  
_If she says anything..._ Kiks thought, her teeth tightly clenched.  
"You're not going to get very far in life... it says a lot about your personality."  
_ That's it.. Won't punch her like I want to, but she IS leaving and she _will_ be in some sort of pain.  
_ Kiks threw her hand up, slapping Sissy and causing her to draw back.  
"I don't know you, but I can't stand you. I should tell you... Don't ever say anything about Odd in front of me or I'll ring your head from your neck."  
"Hey... be nice... not that I'm not enjoying this." Came Odd's voice as he stepped in front of Kiks. He looked at Sissy. "I hope that you've learned to listen to Ulrich when he warns you against doing stupid things?"  
I look of malice crossed Sissy's face as she turned and ran in the opposite direction. A moment later, Theo appeared and began to speak to Kiks.  
"What do you have against Sissy?" He asked.  
"What do you have for her? She's a wind bag who can't keep her thoughts to herself..."  
"She not that bad."  
"If you're a cute brunette boy she might not be _that _bad..." Kiks answered sarcastically.  
"Why brunette?" Odd asked.  
"I know she likes Ulrich, and if this guy likes her, then she's nice to him... implying that she likes him to." She said, turning to face him. She turned back to Theo.  
"Listen, If you're friends with her... then I'm genuinely sorry for putting her through pain, but I'm not going to let her make her stupid little comments about any of my friends. Just because Ulrich does, I don't."  
Ulrich looked at her in confusion but she just shook her head and walked away.  
"How did this start exactly?" Odd asked.  
"Sissy got on her nerves."  
"Yeah... I figured that out already."  
"Who is she?" Theo inquired.  
"Kiks."  
"She's pretty."  
Odd turned around, "You just stick to being Sissy's guardian and trying to get Yumi away from Ulrich... okay Theo?" He said, running to catch up with Kiks.  
"He likes her?"  
"Yeah."  
"Oh."  
  
Yumi had been watching the argument between Sissy and Kiks from a window in her classroom._ I have to give her credit, she does have guts and a good sense of loyalty_. She was able to hear everything that had been said, and something Odd had said had reassured something she had already been thinking. _'...and trying to get Yumi away from Ulrich.' Maybe what I said in the factory wasn't the best thing to have said to him.  
_ She turned back around in her desk. She was the only person in the room right now, and the emptiness was uncomfortable to her.  
  
A few yards behind her, an electrical outlet was sparking. From it came a black cloud that silently drifted in the air behind Yumi's head. Without Yumi's detection, it crossed into one of her ears and out the other, then continued out the door and down the hall. Floating along the ceiling and out of notice.  
  
_Why do I care? I don't like him anyway, so what if he likes me?  
_  
_Okay. I'll call her... and I'll apologize... and I'll tell her_. Ulrich thought. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Yumi's number.  
  
Yumi's cell phone rang. _I had a feeling he would do that.  
_ "Hello?"  
"Yumi... it's me."  
"I know."  
"About what happened... I just wanted to—"  
"Apologize right?"  
"Yeah."  
"You can save it for some other time. I don't feel like talking to you now." She said as she hung up her phone.  
  
_ She just hung up on me? NO WAY. Where's Kiks' expertise when you need her? Maybe I'll try again._ He redialed his cell phone.  
"What do you want?" Came Yumi's voice.  
"To talk."  
"Ulrich... I don't like you, I never have... and I'm sick of pretending that I do, now DON'T call me."  
A beeping sound informed him that she had hung up on him a second time, but he took no notice.  
_ ...she...?  
_  
_ Now where would Yumi be?_ Odd thought. He and Kiks had decided to try and go find Yumi, but they had only a general idea of where she could be. Now, they were walking down an illuminated hallway, in the direction that they expected to find her in. Odd looked into all the open classrooms they passed, with no sign of Yumi.  
_ What was that?_ Kiks wondered, putting her hands up to her ears. They had started to itch, as if air had blown through them.  
"Do you feel an air conditioner or something?" She asked Odd.  
"No. Why?"  
"No reason."  
_He has a purple spot in his hair. Weird._ She shook her head, trying to get a strange feeling out. _Was I just criticizing his hair?_  
She looked up at Odd. "What are we doing again?"  
"Looking for Yumi."  
"Why did you come with me instead of Ulrich?"  
Odd looked at her in concern.  
"Because... Wait? Have you always had blue eyes?"  
"Yes." _Wait, do I? I don't think so_.  
"Oh."  
"So, why am I on this mission... _with you_?"  
"Because we were better together than you and Ulrich? I don't know."  
"You mean to tell me, that I get along better with _you_ than with the cute brown haired boy?"  
"You're really freaking me out now."  
"You've always freaked me out, so I don't know what you're complaining about."  
"Wow. That was... uncalled for." He turned and began to walk ahead.  
"YUMI!" Kiks yelled at the top of her lungs.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Odd scowled, putting his hand over her mouth, which she pushed away.  
"Looking for Yumi. Its not my fault that you were to _stupid_ to try calling her."  
"I'm going to pretend you never said that... and I'm going to call her phone."  
  
Yumi's cell phone rang again. This time, Odd's number showed up. She turned it on.  
"You better not be trying to apologize for Ulrich, cause I don't want to hear it."  
"I'm not... me and Kiks, who is acting very strange are trying to find you."  
"Where are you?"  
"Room 246."  
"Just walk straight, I'll meet up with you in about a minute."

"She says to walk straight."  
"Okay."  
A minute later, they could see Yumi.  
"Thank god." Kiks retorted. "I didn't think I could stand anymore alone time with you."  
Odd looked hurt.  
"What's wrong Odd?" Yumi asked.  
"She just said she didn't like me..." He said, pointing at Kiks. "I can't say I would either." Yumi responded.  
"WHAT? YOU TOO?"  
"You called to tell me she was acting strange, and your only indicator was that she said she didn't like you? Give it a break." She grabbed Kiks by the arm and led her in the direction she had come.  
_ Wait... but... I have to find Ulrich and Jeremie, NOW_.  
  
"ULRICH!" Odd yelled, throwing the door to their room open. Ulrich was laying on the bed, staring at a spot on the floor.  
"We have an emergency... what are you looking at?!"  
"What do you mean, 'we have an emergency'?"  
"Is Yumi acting weird?"  
"No."  
"Really?"  
"She doesn't like me. She practically came right out and told me she  
hates me... She's not acting weird though."

"AHA! Kiks was acting like a psychopath to! One minute she was fine, asking about an air conditioner, the next minute she was insulting me... then she said she didn't was going to shoot herself if she had to be alone with me anymore."

"Did it occur to you that maybe they just don't like us?"

"No... Kiks just slapped Sissy in the face standing up for me... I don't think she would change her mind that quickly."

"Maybe she likes Theo."

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Because as this moment, she likes _you_."

"WHAT?!" He exclaimed, sitting up on the bed. "Me?"

"She was complaining that I had to go with her, and asking me why _you_ didn't."

"What about Yumi... you saw her right?"

"Yeah. No.... she was treating me like crap to."

"Let's go see Jeremie." As they walked out into the hall, they saw Kiks walking in the opposite direction. Odd grabbed her by the arm as they passed. "Oh no you don't. You're coming with us."

"Get off of me, you stupid purple monkey!" She wailed, slapping his hand off of her and continuing to walk.

"YOU SEE!?"

"Hold on a second Odd." Ulrich said, running up to Kiks.

"Hey." She stopped short and looked at him.

"Hi."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with US."

"Us... as in.. you included?" She asked.  
He nodded.  
"Okay."  
He held his arm out to her, which she took gratefully. Walking back past Odd who had his mouth wide open in a mix of annoyance and jealousy, Ulrich winked and beckoned him to follow.  
"_I see how it is!_ You just wanted Ulrich for yourself!" Sissy cried as she came around the corner and saw Ulrich and Kiks arm in arm with Odd trailing.  
"Well of course, _he's just so cute_." Kiks replied.  
"He likes _Yumi _more than you!"  
"I doubt that. If he does, he shouldn't cause Yumi hates him. Which leaves... me and you.... And I'm not annoying."  
"Odd?"  
"I have no say in this. In case you didn't notice, my 'girlfriend' is hanging all over him now and calling me a 'stupid purple monkey'."  
"_Finally._ Someone noticed."  
"BUG OFF!"  
They opened Jeremie's door and slipped in, closing it in Sissy's face.  
Jeremie turned around quickly, seeing Ulrich and Kiks first.  
"What... why is...?"  
"She likes me." Ulrich said.  
"But I thought that she was with..."  
"Like I just told Sissy.. I'm now a stupid purple monkey." Odd answered in advance.  
"Aelita's not talking to you right now, is she?" Ulrich asked.  
"No."  
"Good. Call Yumi, I've got a hunch."  
"Which is?" Odd questioned.  
"You said that Kiks liked me..."  
"Like you? I love you!" She squealed, kissing him on the cheek. Odd turned red with anger.  
"Not something I'm proud of."Odd commented.  
"But Yumi doesn't like _you_... which only leaves _Jeremie_."  
"Or Theo."  
"I think it's probably in the group."  
"Here's what we'll do then," Jeremie resolved. "Odd can hide in here, I'll call Yumi and we'll see what she does when she gets here. You can take Kiks to the factory and try to figure out why she's madly in love with you..."  
"AND NO SMOOCHING!" Odd clarified. "Is that clear?"  
"Crystal."  
"Good."  
"Alright... then we'll get out of here. I'll have my cell phone."  
Odd decided to hide under one of the beds, getting ready as Jeremie called Yumi, and asked her to come to his room.  
A few minutes later, Yumi had shown up. She closed the door and walked over to Jeremie, throwing her arms around the back of his neck.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Giving you the love and attention that your stupid computer girlfriend can't."  
He turned his chair around and looked at her.  
"Why do you all of a sudden like me?"  
"Because you're smart. Ulrich's stupid... and... you treat Aelita so nice... I want to be treated like that too." She kissed him on the forehead.  
"Okay... ummmm... you go sit over there." He said, pointing to the bed.  
"But Jeremie—"  
"No but Jeremie's... if you like me as much as you say you do, then you'll go sit down."  
"Okay. Fine. But you'll have to join me in a little while." She smirked.  
Jeremie turned bright red and text Ulrich a message to inform him that what they thought was true.

Ulrich and Kiks had reached the factory in record time, and had gone to sit in the lab to wait for Jeremie. Ulrich had given up on trying to stay away from Kiks, since she followed him everywhere he went. Finally he took a seat on the floor against a wall. She mimicked him and laid her head on his shoulder.  
_ Now what am I supposed to do? If I ask her why she likes me, she just says 'because your cute'._  
"Why does Yumi hate you?" She asked innocently, looking up at him.  
"Why do you hate Odd?"  
"I... I don't... know... it's weird."  
Ulrich couldn't help but notice how she kept rubbing one side of her head.  
"What happened?"  
"I'm not sure... It starting feeling weird when Odd and I went to find Yumi."  
  
"Come here, let me look at it."  
She turned the opposite direction so that he could look.  
"Its red.. did you notice anything strange right before it happened?"  
"No." She returned to her position and laid her head back on his shoulder.  
_ She's not that bad. I was expecting to have real trouble like Jeremie just said he was having... but I think that she knows there's something weird going on.  
_

_Why do I... I don't like Ulr—yes I do. I love Ulrich. Wait, what about Odd? I don't care about him. Yes I do. Why can't I talk? Why can't I think for myself... this can't be what I'm thinking!  
_ She turned her head up to Ulrich. "Do you... love... Yumi?"  
"I'm not up to answering that right now."  
_Tell me that you don't like me Ulrich!  
_ "Oh."  
_ How can I make him say it? I know that this will go away if he says it... it has to... what could I do that will make him say he doesn't like me? Kiss him... if I try to kiss him... he'll have to... right? Don't want to kiss a girl you don' t like...  
_ She grabbed the side of his face gently, pulled it towards her and softly kissed his lips.  
_Okay.. there... this is something that whatever's in me is letting me do... so... why isn't he pushing me away!? Ulrich!?!?!?! Crap... Why can't I pull away?!  
_ To Kiks dismay, Ulrich was only returning her gesture and not rejecting her.  
_STUPID POSESSED YUMI! She had to have said something really hateful to him for him to be doing this... I won't get in trouble if anyone walks in right now...but he will.  
_

_ She's doing this because of her state... she means nothing by it.. I have to stop kissing her.. okay... pull away... slowly...  
_ He did exactly what he had been thinking, and pulled himself away as slowly as he could.

"YUMI! Please! Get off of me!!" Jeremie pleaded with Yumi who had grabbed him by the shoulders and was trying kiss him. Jeremie's barricade didn't hold up long, and within seconds, her lips were on his.  
_ Bad bad bad bad... ODD?? Why aren't you helping me???_ He could see Odd laughing at him from under the bed, so he shot him a 'I hope your girlfriend is doing this to Ulrich' glance.  
"Jeremie! Have I told you that I loved you?"  
"I don't remember... but I can tell you what you have done... you've kissed me. I will have no more of it."  
"Oh... come on Jeremie. That was just a little smooch."  
"One that was completely unnecessary!" He cried.  
Yumi leaned in to kiss him again, trying to be more passionate with him, but he stood his ground.  
"NO. You will not kiss me! I LOVE AELITA!"  
At this moment, Odd could be heard cracking up from under the bed. "_Finally_."  
"I don't like you... _Bad Evil Yumi_..."  
A black mist began to seep out of Yumi's head, and she fell to the floor, the mist now flying into Odd, which went unnoticed from concern for Yumi.  
"Jeremie?"  
"Yeah?" He asked.  
"I'm sorry... I couldn't... control myself... It was like being on a remote control..."  
"I understand. Its alright... I don't know how I did that, but... Ulrich and Kiks may or may not have figured it out yet."  
"Ulrich!" Yumi bawled. "I was so mean to him! Everything that came out of my mouth was a lie!"  
"Don't worry. He'll understand, let's get to the factory."

_Okay... I HAVE to make him say he doesn't like me... how... I have to try and say it somehow. LY OKO! If I can get into Lyoko, I could talk... but how can I get into Lyoko? I can't... another way... could I write it? Make Aelita say it?  
_ She ran over to the computer screen.  
_ Type it._  
She carefully typed to word 'rejection' onto the screen, and dragged Ulrich over to it.  
"Rejection? Odd didn't reject you... "  
Kiks leaned up and kissed him again, this time longer, hoping he would see the connection.  
  
_She wants me to reject her. Okay.  
_ With this, he pushed her off of him.  
"Why don't you want to kiss me?" She asked with a smile on her face.  
"Because you told me not to."  
"DON'T YOU... LOVE .... Yumi?"  
"Of course I love Yumi... What are you trying to say?"  
She rolled her eyes at him, "What about me?"  
"Well... Id like you to if you weren't dating Odd, under something wacky and I didn't like Yumi."  
"YOURE KIDDING!" She exclaimed in annoyance. "That's it."  
She walked back over to the computer screen and brought up her card with the cat form on it. She put her hand directly over the card and watched as her hand began to glow. On the screen the cat form came to life, just as Aelita did. _I didn't know I could do that..._  
"Say you don't like me Ulrich." It said quietly and with much effort.  
"I don't like you."  
Black mist sifted out of Kiks' head and back into a power outlet and Kiks struggled to keep herself up. Ulrich ran over and grabbed her just as the struggle failed.  
"Thankyou!" She said, with a backdrop of 'finally'.  
"You are yourself again?"  
She nodded.  
"Thank GOD!" He said, leaning down and kissing her happily.  
Just then the doors to the lab opened. Odd and Yumi's faces were shocked, and they didn't move out of the elevator. Jeremie ran over and helped pick Kiks up. Kiks through her arms around him and put her head down on his shoulder as she began to cry.  
"Calm down... calm down, it's okay."  
"That's what you think." Odd said angrily. "Are you staying down here Yumi?"  
"Yes."  
"Then get out."  
Yumi jumped out of the elevator as the doors were closing, a latch clawing her leg, sending her flying across the floor. She looked at the doors, astonished that Odd had almost gotten her crushed. Ulrich ran over hurriedly and picked her up off of the floor. She glared at him.  
"You're hurt." He said, pointing to the large gash in her leg.  
"I'll live."  
"Let me help."  
"I can handle."  
Kiks pushed away from Jeremie and ran over to Yumi.  
"Please... don't be mad at Ulrich.... It was me, not him." Ulrich looked at her.  
"Even if it wasn't, which it was... considering what you said to him under that Xana possession... I think everyone would agree that you're even now."  
"Stop it Kiks." Ulrich said. "It wasn't like that Yumi. I kissed her because I was happy she wasn't all over me anymore. It sounds weird... but it's true."  
Yumi nodded her forgiveness slowly and allowed Ulrich to help her with her wound. "I'm sorry... for anything I said... It was all a load of lies." She said quietly.  
"I'm ecstatic to hear that." He said with a smile. Kiks and Jeremie snuck out quietly.  
"Ecstatic?"  
"Happy wouldn't have been the right word." He replied, sitting down next to her.  
"I... didn't mean what I said in the factory the other day either... I... I do notice when people like me."  
"Really?"  
She nodded.  
"What about me?"  
"Huh?"  
"If you notice when people like you... then... I take it you've had me figured out since the day we met."  
She looked down in thought.  
"To bring Kiks back... what... what did you..."  
"I told her that I loved you."  
"You...."  
"And I meant every word of it."  
She hugged him happily and kissed him on the cheek.  
"I... I..."  
He put his finger to her mouth.  
"Don't worry about it."  
"Poor Kiks..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Odd."  
"Oh man.. do you mind if we go and try to find one or both of them. That was all my fault, and I can't let Odd be mad at Kiks for it."  
"I'll come too."

"Odd!" Kiks yelled across the bridge. He turned as she was running towards him.  
"Don't even try to say that you're sorry. First you go under some Xana spell where you tell me you hate me.. then you say you're in love with Ulrich. I told him not to kiss you while you were like that, so what do you two do? Kiss after. Why don't you go and get with someone like Theo? He likes you too you know."  
"You don't mean that."  
"No?"  
She tried to reach for him but he pulled away.  
"I don't want you anywhere near me. Just go back to where ever you came from." He turned and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Kiks in the middle of the bridge.


	7. To Close For Comfort

For anyone who wants to know, I was listening to placebo, Every me and Every you, so that's the speed/ tone of this.  
  
_Fine. If he wants me to go back to where I came from. I will. Just wait until the next time you come to Lyoko. I'll show you where I came from. Its time for a temporary change in the tides.  
_ She turned around and stomped back into the factory. Jumping into the elevator as Yumi, Ulrich and Jeremie were getting out.  
"I need your help Jeremie." She said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back into the elevator.  
"What?"  
Yumi and Ulrich quickly jumped back into the elevator.  
"You're sending me back to Lyoko."  
"Why."  
"Odd wants me back where I came from, that's where I'm going."  
"Kiks—"  
"JEREMIE! Don't test me! I'm going back with or without you."  
Ulrich and Yumi exchanged worried glances.  
"And for the record... no one ever disabled that tower...there had to have been one since we did have Xana in us. I'm going to help Aelita do it."  
"Oh.. well that makes sense." Jeremie replied.  
_Sure... I'll disable the tower, why not? It won't kill anything, I'll get revenge on Xana first.  
_ Letting Kiks off at the scanner room, the other three moved up to the lab.  
"Won't she need help?" Yumi asked.  
"I doubt it, you saw what she did last time... not to mention that this time she has the anger to burn off... I think that being in there might be a bad idea."  
"What about Aelita?"  
"She wouldn't hurt Aelita. I know she wouldn't... but there is one thing that worries me..."  
"What is it?"  
"Odd said this morning that Aelita told you all I had reprogrammed Kiks for good... but I didn't, she made that change on her own somehow. I'm worried that Odd might have upset her enough to force her to change back."  
"Nah... I don't think she would sink that low."  
"We'll see."  
As Jeremie sat down in the chair and put on his head set, the computer booted up and a listing of scanner stats came up.  
"Alright.. Here it goes again. Transfer Kiks, scanner Kiks, visualization!"  
The cat form of Kiks appeared in Lyoko just as it had the last time.  
"That's a relief." Jeremie said. "Aelita? Kiks is coming to help you deactivate a tower."  
"Okay Jeremie, I can see her."  
Jeremy leaned back in his chair, but seconds later he began to roar instructions.  
"THERE ARE MONSTERS EVERYWHERE! LOOKOUT AELITA! KIKS!"  
The three people surrounding the computer watched unbelievingly as the monster dots were taken down 5 at a time from every direction. The dot representing Kiks was jumping back and forth at a speed unheard of, and almost untraceable by the supercomputer.  
"JEEZ." Yumi said, her mouth wide open.  
"Talk about built up anger."  
"No kidding."  
"What exactly are we looking at?" Odd asked from behind them.  
"Look at Kiks."  
"I'd rather not."  
"No, you really upset her Odd... and she's taking it out on Xana monsters." Ulrich said.  
Odd stepped closer to the computer to see the blur of blue jumping around the screen.  
"Glad she seems to have made use of it."  
"Odd..." Yumi said quietly. "The Ulrich and Kiks thing... it wasn't anything."  
"Say what you want Yumi, I don't care!" The mist was floating in his head at an intense rate, causing him to become very angry.  
"Give it a break Odd! We didn't do anything. It was just a '_thank god you're yourself'_ thing."  
"I'm sick of you Ulrich! Stop trying to make it seem like you're perfect! YOU AREN'T!" Odd yelled, pushing Ulrich across the room into a nearby wall.  
"What's wrong with you?!?"  
"DON'T TALK TO ME!"  
"Just get away from him Ulrich!"  
"OH NO!" Jeremie shrieked. "AELITA! SHE WON'T HURT YOU... BUT GET TO THAT TOWER AND AWAY FROM HER AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!"  
"What happened Jeremie!?" Yumi asked.  
"I spoke to soon on that whole '_Kiks won't change herself'_ thing. Look!"  
They all moved over to the computer, showing a black and blood red version of Kiks' cat form.  
"WHAT IS SHE DOING!?" Yumi cried.  
"Taking out her anger... and it's all psycho's fault!" Ulrich exclaimed, pointing at Odd.  
"Jeremie." Odd said. "Let me go to Lyoko and protect Aelita!"  
"Fine... Get down there!" moments later, Odd had been transported into Lyoko and had caught up with Aelita.  
"She's actually coming after him!" Jeremie squealed in horror, paying attention to the now red dot symbolizing Kiks, which was racing towards Odd and Aelita..  
"Wait... why is that Aelita dot moving like that?" Ulrich asked. "Can you get a graphic version? I think there is more to this than we see."  
Within seconds, a graphic had been pulled up.  
"THEY'VE GONE INSANE!" Yumi yelled.  
"No... Its Xana... Why didn't we notice this earlier?! Come on Yumi! Jeremie get ready!"  
"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Visualization!"  
  
"Let go of Aelita!" Yumi yelled.  
A black figure flew over top of her from behind landing on the ground in front of them.  
"No way... this was too perfect, now I have Aelita and an evil version of Kiks."  
At the mention of her name, Kiks stood up and thrust her arms in front of her to aim for a shot at the Xana filled Odd.  
"You're not actually going to shoot me are you? This isn't a clone Kiks... This is Odd... you shoot him with those powers in your dark form, you'll kill him."  
"You...."  
"That's what I thought."  
Yumi began to throw fans at him.  
"Smart, devirtualize so that I can go back to your world."  
"STOP YUMI!" Jeremie called.  
"You think you've one, don't you?" Kiks asked.  
"Of course."  
"Well you didn't...and you won't get away with using me! You're screwed!!!" She flipped backwards into the air, arms outstretched and a red glow surrounded her as she assumed a floating position.  
"You aren't going to use that attack, you'll kill everyone including Odd, except for me."  
"JEREMIE!!! Can you materialize us!?!?"  
"It will take longer than you have, and we'll lose Odd and Aelita!"  
Yumi and Ulrich turned and ran for cover.  
"You aren't going to be able to escape it kids."  
"SELF DESTRUCT!" Kiks cried, a sphere of red surrounding her.  
"That red proves that its your doom!"  
"Then how about this?!" Kiks cried, letting out a cry of agony as her body turned back to white and burgundy, and the sphere turned acid white, exploding around them.  
The black cloud rose out of Odd and faded out, leaving Odd in a heap on the ground and Kiks devirtualizing in the air.  
"Wow." Ulrich and Yumi said together.  
"I don't think Xana's gone for good...so don't be too happy." Jeremie said. "Aelita, go ahead and get to that tower."  
Where Kiks had devirtualized, she instantly revirtualized.  
"Sorry. I'm not leaving guys." Her outfit had faded away, leaving her barefoot in a goddess like dress, glowing white. "I need to go to that tower, I have a present for Jeremie." She followed Aelita toward the tower, looking down at Odd as she walked by, and stopping for a moment to put her hand on his forehead, materializing him.  
"Materialization in 5 seconds guys." Jeremy said.  
  
About 5 minutes later, Yumi, Ulrich and Odd (Still unconscious.) were all back in the lab.  
"What did she have to give you?"  
"I'm not sure, I'm trying to upload it." Jeremie replied.  
A loading bar was 75% done on the screen, so they waited patiently for it to fill.  
"IT'S AELITA'S MATERIALIZATION PROGRAM!" Jeremie said in astonishment. "NO WAY."  
Aelita appeared on the screen. "If its all the same to you Jeremie, I would like to stay here for a day or two and try to cheer up Kiks... possibly get her to return, at current she is refusing to come back."  
"No problem."  
"You mean..." Yumi started. "_That Aelita's finally going to be real_?" 


	8. Endeavored Salvage of Abandoned Affectio...

Also... just so everyone is aware... any odd spelling mistakes, or 'visualizations' (Thanks for pointing that out!) are from writing this in Word... It auto corrects everything, Sorry... also, this chapter is fast moving, kindof choppy at times.. Hope you like it! Thanks for the reviews!  
  
8. Endeavored Salvage of Abandoned Affection  
  
Yumi sat next to Odd, waiting for him to wake up while Jeremie and Ulrich went to get some food. He had been unconscious since they pulled him out of the scanner, and now he was lying on a random table just inside the lab. Jeremie had wanted them to stay in the lab, and near the computer incase Kiks or Aelita decided to change their minds, or try to get in contact with them.  
_ Odd... I know you didn't mean to make Kiks' go back to Lyoko... it just doesn't seem like you.  
_ After 2 hours of being unconscious, Odd finally began to come around.  
"Huh? Where am I?"  
"In the lab... you might want to go over and have a conversation with that computer though.."  
"Why?"  
"Because... you... well, Xana took over your body, and kind of scared Kiks away. She refuses to leave Lyoko cus' you told her to go back where she came from."  
"I didn't mean stay in Lyoko."  
"Tell her that."  
"No. _That's alright_. I don't want her anywhere near me."  
"What!?"  
"I meant what I said Yumi. That wasn't just Xana talking... It was me."  
"Odd—"  
"I'm sorry Yumi... okay... I just can't.. I don't want to talk to her. I was fine with her getting taken over, although she hurt my feelings, it wasn't a big deal for me... it was everything after."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Her and Ulrich... then her turning herself evil just because she was upset.. it says a lot about how fast she's willing to give up on something instead of being like you...and trying harder to fix something you messed up."  
"You were really tough on her Odd. She never had any intention of hurting any of us and she protected Aelita from a gazillion monsters... not to mention giving Jeremie Aelita's materialization code."  
"She would've hurt me had she been given the chance."  
"No. She wouldn't have. She had the chance. She was going to kill Xana but he told her that she would kill you to, so she stopped. She was the one who got that creep out of you Odd."  
"Doesn't matter. I don't want to talk to her." He replied, standing up weakly and walking over to the elevator. "Are you coming?"  
"No. I have to stay here and watch for messages from Kiks and Aelita. Ulrich and Jeremie are bringing food back any minute now."  
"I'll pass. I'm not really hungry."  
"You should eat anyway."  
"Nah.. I feel like she ripped my stomach out... along with another vital blood pumping organ." He said sadly, climbing into the elevator.  
_Poor poor Odd. Very unreasonable... but... I felt the same thing at first.  
_ She walked over to the computer screen and called for the pink haired computer intelligence.  
"What is it Yumi?"  
"How are things going there with Kiks?"  
"Not good... she's... not changing at all. She claims that Odd hates her and doesn't want her to come back."  
"Tell her he said that he didn't mean for her to stay in Lyoko."  
"Should I tell her that he apologizes?"  
"Oh... well... the thing about that is that he... didn't...exactly..."  
"He didn't?"  
"He said that he meant it..."  
"Oh, I'll leave _that_ part out of the summary then."  
"Good idea. Jeremie should be back by now, so next time you'll probably be talking to him."  
"Go home and get some sleep Yumi."  
"Thanks Aelita."  
Aelita turned and walked off the screen, and Yumi walked to the elevators. When she had reached the top level and the doors opened, Jeremie and Ulrich were waiting.  
"Where's Odd?" Ulrich inquired.  
"He got up and left."  
"Did he talk to Kiks?" Jeremie asked.  
"No. He says he meant it." She replied, walking forward.  
"He _really_ thinks he meant?"  
"Trust me Ulrich... _he meant it_. He said he wanted to be nowhere near her."  
"Then, we'll just have to trick them into being together... like we did with your parents."  
"That would be great, except for where one of them refuses to come out of a computer."  
"So we trick her into coming out."  
"How?"  
"Tell her Odd's being attacked." Jeremie chimed in.  
"That might actually work..."  
"Then you just have to find a way to keep her out."  
"So how do we manage that?" Yumi asked.  
"Tell her the servers down?" He asked hesitantly.  
"YOU ARE A GENIUS!"  
"So then, I'll ask Odd to come somewhere with me and Jeremie... and you ask Kiks to go somewhere with you and Aelita... and we'll just take them go to the same place." Ulrich finalized.  
"Cool... Jeremie, you talk to Aelita about it."  
"Sure thing!" he said, running in the direction of the school.  
"So... should we find Odd?" questioned Yumi. "Lets give him a day or two."

_I will resist any urge to go back into Lyoko. I will not talk to her.. I will not be anywhere that she could see me. I'll... find myself another girlfriend... fast.  
_ Odd was lying on his bed, trying his best not to think of Kiks. Her and Ulrich kissing kept replaying in his mind._ I thought she was different!_ His head screamed as he threw his pillow into his face and rolled over. Ulrich walked in quietly and sat down on his bed, looking across the room at Odd, whose face was hidden by the pillow.  
"Do you want to talk?"  
"No."  
"Are sure its not just because its me?"  
"It has nothing to do with that... just leave me alone." He pouted through the pillow.  
"You're honestly going to give up on her... just like that?"  
"Yes."  
"Yumi said half the reason you were mad at her was because she gave up on you... so why are you doing the same thing back?"  
"It's my girl problem, back out of it Ulrich."  
"What are you thinking that you should do? If it were someone else in the situation what would you tell them?"  
"To go after her."  
"Then why don't you listen to your own advice?"  
"Because I don't want to!" he said, finally pulling the pillow away. "Why does it matter anyway? _No one else_ listens to my advice..."  
"I did."  
"What?"  
"You told me to tell Yumi how I felt... and I did. So now you can just listen to your own advice."  
"Ulrich... I'm not going to have anything else to do with her! You wouldn't understand! Just leave me alone!" He yelled, rolling back over.

The next day, Ulrich convinced Odd to come to a club downtown with him and Jeremie. The only thing left to do, was get Kiks out. Ulrich, Jeremie and Yumi headed into the lab at about noon. Sitting into the rotating chair, Jeremie began conversation.  
"Everyone ready for some acting? Worried faces on..."  
Aelita walked onto the screen with Kiks right next to her, just as Jeremie had told her to.  
"Kiks! Aelita! _Thank god you're here_! Odd's being attacked!" He yelled in a very believing concerned voice.  
"Huh?" Kiks asked in disbelief. "Where are Yumi and Ulrich?!"  
_ Crap. Never thought of that... stupid move Jeremie!_ He motioned for Yumi and Ulrich to get out of the way of the computer screen.  
"I don't know where they are... I can't reach their cell phones! YOU HAVE TO HELP KIKS! I'm pathetic... remember?"  
"Fine." She resolved without thought. "Materialize me. NOW."  
"Glad to hear it!"  
"Materialization in 10 seconds, for you too Aelita."  
In less than a minute, Kiks had run out of the scanner and to the front of the factory, to wait for Jeremie. Aelita caught the next elevator, which Jeremie also stepped into.  
"Wow... it... worked?"  
Aelita smiled at him. "Hello Jeremie." 

She had been materialized into a pair of jeans and a sweater.  
"You look.... Pretty..." The elevator opened up and he continued his panicked acting, running up to Kiks, with Aelita right behind him.  
"Thanks for coming... Come on, I'll lead you out."

"That was close." Yumi sighed.  
"Seriously."  
The two had realized that they were not supposed to be present and climbed into the elevator hatch. Riding the elevator up and trying not to make noise.  
"Let's follow them. You have to meet up with her somewhere and tell her that you took care of it." Ulrich said.  
"I'll run around, they're going over the bridge to the school... I'll take the sewer and beat them there, then drag her to my house.."  
"Good, I'll go find Odd and take him to our room, he's in the park  
right now."  
"Good. This is fool proof. We'll meet at the club in an hour."  
"Alright."

"Kiks! Jeremie!"  
"There you are!" Jeremie yelled.  
"Don't worry about Odd.. I got your text message, he's fine."  
"I came out for nothing?" Kiks asked, coming to a complete stop.  
"Jeremie, take me back."  
"I can't... I have to be somewhere in... OH NO! 15 minutes! Sorry Kiks, you'll just have to stick around until the next time Yumi and Ulrich go in." Before she could reply, he had bolted.  
"You can stay with me at my house Kiks. Don't worry about it... listen, Aelita and I had already made plans to go to this cool club the second she was materialized... you want to come?" She winked at Aelita. Kiks noticed nothing odd about the gesture.  
"I don't know... I'm not sure that I'm—"  
"You're coming if you like it or not!" Yumi scowled, grabbing Kiks by the hand and beginning to move in the direction of her house. "You want to help me drag her?" She asked Aelita, who did indeed grab Kiks' other hand.  
"You have all of your clothes at my house anyway, so you can change really quick... after all, you need to look your best for all of the cute guys you're going to meet."

"Okay Odd. Time to get ready. You don't want to have anything to do with Kiks, that's fine with me... but you aren't going to mope, we're going to go and find you a girl."  
"What do you mean get ready?"  
"Purple isn't really your color right now Odd, you're trying to impress girls, now put something else on... you haven't change in 2 days."  
Odd scowled at him, but got off his bed and pulled out several different outfits.  
"I have to wear purple. It matches my hair."  
"Then... wear black pants with a purple shirt." Ulrich said simply, switching his green colored shirt to a black one, and putting on Khakis.  
"FINE." He retorted, pulling a pair of black pants on, which made him look 75% better than he had. "But that's all I'm doing."  
"Okay, Lets go get Jeremie."

The boys reached the club first, and took a seat a little ways from the door in the crowded club.  
"This way we can see if anyone we know comes... maybe Yumi will come." Ulrich said.  
"Yumi..." Jeremie said slowly. "That's great but as I recall we wanted to find _Odd_ a date."  
"_Who cares_?" Odd asked miserably.  
At this moment, Yumi stepped through the door. She had also slightly altered her outfit, sporting a black belly t-shirt instead of her long sleeve sweater. Ulrich waved her over.  
"Hi Odd. Have you found yourself a girl yet?" She asked, standing in a position that hid him from the door and the door from him.  
Aelita and Kiks stepped through the door a few minutes later, both looking in every direction to take in the club. Aelita was wearing a red wrap skirt, with a fancy white t-shirt, keeping with the theme of her Lyoko form except for her now dark red hair. Kiks on the other hand had chosen a different approach. She sported an entirely white outfit, starting at the bottom with tall white boats and a short white skirt. A midriff covering tight white tank adorned top, and her hair was pulled neatly back into a ponytail and curled. Her eyes were frosted white to match her theme. The two began to advance towards the rest of the group.  
"No... and I don't think I'm going to." Odd answered.  
"Well that's _good_ then." Yumi said, causing Odd to look up at her before she jumped out of the way.  
Odd and Kiks' eyes met and they both froze. The entire group held their breath, and awaited an apology or an argument.  
"He..." Kiks said silently. Not moving.  
"What... are _you_... doing here?"


	9. Repossession

Okie... here's the short chaprter 9... only three pages.. but thats alright.. cus I like it. Hehehe. Thanks again for the reviews... poor Kiks... How could anyone possibly trick her into going to the same place as someone who hates her? heehee... that's a common misconception... i'll let you figure it out on your own... Please tell me what you think of this chapter!! -

"I...I need... I'm going for a walk." Kiks' struggled, turning quickly and running out the door as fast as she could.  
"WHY DID YOU BRING HER HERE!?" Odd yelled at the group. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with her!"  
"Don't be mad at her Odd. She didn't know you were here either!" Yumi countered angrily.  
"I thought she refused to leave Lyoko!"  
"We tricked her into coming out, Okay?!"  
"Yeah... how? Did you tell her that Xana was killing ULRICH?"  
Ulrich looked up at the mention of his name, and took up the same annoyance that Yumi had.  
"Actually... we told her that _you_ were being attacked."  
"She wouldn't have fell for that, and she wouldn't have come anyway."

"She's here isn't she?"  
Aelita stepped to the front of the group, where it just registered to Odd who she was.  
"Aelita?!"  
"Odd... please, don't be mad at her. She's been miserable the entire time she was in Lyoko... she didn't move at all... she just sat on a rock crying."  
"Nice try Aelita."  
"Its true."  
"Sorry that I'm not having a big welcome to Earth party for you and all... but I suddenly feel like going to the bathroom and hurling." He replied, standing up and also heading for the door. "I think I'll go home now."  
"ODD!"  
He ignored the calls of his friends and exited the building.  
_ That was smart of them. I have to admit, I didn't see it coming. They think they've helped too... when all they did was make me feel worse._ He had walked into the large field in front of the club, and now looked around in bewilderment. _Hold on... where did she go? There's no way she could've gotten out of sight this quickly... I hope she's not lost... or hurt... WHY DO I CARE?! _He asked, hitting himself in the head. _I don't care about her. Maybe she'll get attacked by a wolf or something.._ He thought as he began to walk across the field in the direction of the dorms. _What am I talking about?! I CAN'T LET HER GET HURT... Mad at her or not... that's to low for me.  
_ He set off at a sprint across the field, looking for any signs as to where she would have entered the woods. He had two ideas as to where she could possibly be going, the factory and Yumi's house... both of which she would have been trying to retrace steps, leading straight into the woods. The sun was setting and night was coming on, making the woods very dark and shadowy.  
She has to be here somewhere. He dared not call for her, incase there was nothing wrong, and she just wanted to get away from him. Instead, he planned to find her, and follow her until there was no chance of anything happening to her.  
A shrill scream echoed across the interior of the forest, unquestionably generated by a female.  
_Oh no..._ He thought, running faster and dodging tree limbs.  
"KIKS!?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. He could hear shuffling coming from a specific area, and followed the sound as quick as he could.  
He came to an abrupt stop when he came into a clearing. To his dismay, a five foot mechanical Xana monster was circling the area. It's clawed arms had what could only be blood smeared on them.  
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER YOU PILE OF JUNK!?" Odd yelled angrily, grabbing a stick and throwing it at the monsters eye. The monster stumbled back and forth, but eventually caught it's balance.  
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way." Odd grabbed a piece of log off the ground and ran around the legs of the monster, knocking each one out separately and forcefully throwing the large log at the monster. Before it had hit though, the monster disappeared the way images on a computer screen do when you cut it off.  
Odd looked around frantically, his eyes setting on the white clad female form. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Ulrich's number. A moment later Ulrich answered.  
"Get to the factory as fast as you can. ITS IMPORTANT... and bring a few bottles of water."  
"Alright... we'll be there in 5 minutes."  
The blonde haired boy walked over slowly to Kiks, looking at her unconscious body. Her white clothes were stained with red from the blood flowing freely from her arms and legs. It looked as if the monster had thrown her across they clearing, straight into a pile of rocks. Here head was slightly downward, and a small pool of blood had become evident under it.  
_ This was all my fault_. Odd thought to himself regretfully as he gently picked her fragile body up. He brushed the leaves out of her hair affectionately and began to run in the direction of the factory.  
When he arrived, the rest of the group was already waiting for him. They all jumped into action the moment they saw Odd's precious cargo.  
"We have a problem Jeremie..." He said quietly.  
"What?"  
"She was attacked by a mechanical Lyoko marked monster."  
"In the real world?"  
Odd nodded sadly, walking past him and climbing into the elevator. He walked out into the lab, sitting her on the floor and grabbing a bottle of water from Yumi's hand. Taking off his sweatshirt, he ripped a piece off which he drenched in water and began to clean Kiks' cuts with.  
"She'll need to go to the infirmary." He commented. "She hit her head pretty bad."  
"There's a tower activated in the desert region." Jeremie announced.  
"Me and Aelita will take care of it." Ulrich stated. "You and Yumi can take her to the infirmary." He said quietly to Odd, who nodded back. After Aelita and Ulrich were back in Lyoko, Yumi and Odd began their trip to the infirmary. Kiks' cuts had stopped bleeding, but were still very noticeable.  
"We'll tell the nurse that she was attacked by a wolf." Yumi said.  
"Right."

A few hours later, the nurse emerged from the infirmary, turning to the two teenagers sitting outside the door. Odd jumped up quickly.  
"She'll be fine. You can go in and sit with her until she wakes up if you'd like, but right now she's asleep."  
"Thank you." They both replied as she walked away.  
"I have to get back to the factory, I haven't heard from Ulrich and Jeremie yet."  
"Okay." Odd said, walking through the door. "Bye."  
"Are you going to be okay?"  
"I'll be fine."  
He closed the door behind him as Yumi walked away. Taking a seat in a chair next to the bed, he sat back and looked at Kiks.  
_She isn't going to be happy if I'm the first thing she sees. He thought. Maybe I should go_.  
Before he had a chance to get up, Kiks' eyes began to flutter open, setting wearily on Odd. She said nothing, but gave a small smile and closed her eyes again.  
_ What am I talking about? I can't just leave her. I wouldn't want to wake up and see no one.  
_ He got on his knees next to the bed and grabbed her hand gently. Putting his elbows onto the bed, he kissed her hand faithfully. He leaned his head close to her face.  
"As soon as you wake up," He said softly. "I'm going to apologize for all of this." He placed his head on her stomach and closed his eyes.  
"Odd..."  
He picked his head up quickly and looked at her.  
"Yeah?"  
"You... you don't have to be here... if you don't want to be... Please... go if you want... it won't hurt my feelings..."  
"I'm not going anywhere." He said quietly, putting the back of his hand to her face.  
"But... you're.. mad... at me.."  
He shook his head. "No I'm not."

She looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. "You're not?"  
"No... I can't stay mad at you... I wasn't mad at you to begin with... just... a little confused and disappointed."  
"Oh... you were disappointed in me.." One of her tears fell down her face.  
"I misjudged you though...I just thought that you didn't care. But they told me you came out of LYoko to save me... I won't make that mistake again."  
"It was because I turned evil, wasn't it?"  
"Kind of.But I should have known all along that you weren't evil. Another misjudgment."  
Kiks sat up slowly in the bed.  
"Oh." She said. "Thank you for being here. Why are you here? You said you didn't want to have anything to do with me... that you didn't like me anymore."  
"I thought... but things are different with you."  
"How so?"  
"Everything about you is perfect... I normally just have crushes on girls... but..."  
She struggled to hold herself up.  
"I was afraid that I was actually going to lose you today... and the thought of that.. it killed me inside... Listen, I barely know you..."  
"I understand—"  
"But I'm in love with you."  
She froze instantly, and turned slowly to Odd. "You... love me?"  
He nodded back.  
"I turned evil to get back at Xana..."She said, struggling yet again to get words out and hold herself up at the same time. "You need to understand that... I did it because, you were mad at me for that Ulrich thing, which never would have happened had Xana not inhabited me... because I... I love you too... and... you were... the yelling... and..."  
"Its okay. I should have seen your motive before I yelled at you. And I'm sorry." He comforted, leaning over and kissing her gently. "You need to get some rest."  
"I don't want to be here."  
"Where do you want to be?"  
"Anywhere but here... It makes me feel weird... I'm not hurt that bad."  
"You hit your head, and were covered in cuts... you are hurt this bad."  
"I don't see any cuts... or blood..."  
"That's because I got it off of you before bringing you here."  
She noticed the absence of his sweater.  
"Did you..."  
"Yeah. Don't worry about it."  
"I still don't want to be here."  
"Well... we can go back to the factory... to see how everyone else is doing I guess... huh?" In his pocket, he could feel the familiar vibration of his cell phone. "Not now..." he pleaded, turning it on to here Jeremie's voice.  
"Please tell me this isn't a Xana attack..."  
"It's not." Jeremie reassured. "The return to the past program hasn't been working lately, but I wanted to call to let you know that it's working now... and we're going to use it."  
"But..."  
"It'll take us back to... hmm... when Yumi got to the club I think."  
"Alright." He said turning to look at Kiks. "If it means Kiks' won't be injured, I'm up for it."  
"Good." In the background of the phone he could hear Jeremie's voice starting the program. A moment later, a white flash of light came over them. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting at the table in the club with Ulrich and Jeremie.  
"Hehe..Work of genius fixing that stupid program...it had so many viruses in it I could have made a disease." Jeremie commented. Ulrich looked over, seeing Odd watching the door intently.  
"Now that you know what we were up to... were you really that angry?"  
"At first... I changed my mind though."  
Yumi entered at the exact time she had the time before, walking over to Odd who looked up at her.  
"You're friend is in perfect working condition." She told him as Aelita and Kiks entered.  
When his eyes set on Kiks, he jumped out of his chair quickly and ran over, throwing his arms around her and picking her up off the ground, spinning her in a circle. She laid her head on his shoulder, gladly accepting the affection.  
"Well.. first I felt bad for her when she got ripped to pieces.. now I'm glad she did..." Ulrich commented, watching the two teenager's reunion.  
"I am _never_ letting you out of my sight again!" Odd said to Kiks, his arms still around her. "No nightly walks in the woods, got that?"  
"Trust me... even if you hadn't said it... I had no intention of going into dark areas anytime soon."  
"So..." Jeremie said, trying to steal back attention. "No one really had time to uhhh.... Say anything about Aelita."  
Aelita blushed at the mention of her name and the sudden stares of everyone around her.  
"Oh yeah..." Odd said quietly.  
"I didn't get a chance to say anything before, but it's nice to see you out of Lyoko Aelita." Ulrich added.  
"So, do we unplug Lyoko now?" Yumi asked.  
"_Unfortunately... its not that easy_."


	10. Flashbacks and Vanishing Acts

"Huh?" Kiks sighed, using her forearms to prop herself up on her bed. The room was dark and the shadows crept along gracefully. She turned herself so that she was horizontal in the bed rather than vertical, lying on her stomach, almost hanging over the side.

"I could have sworn…" A sudden sound stopped her, she turned her eyes to one side, surveying one side of the room. Without moving her head or body, she investigated the other side of the room. She saw nothing. Her forehead suddenly heated, her breath becoming rapid.

_What's in here? _She thought. _Something's in here… maybe its what Sol tried to warn me about._

"Ahhhh!" She screamed, feeling something grab at her legs and pull her backwards. She flipped onto her back, pulling her head up to see a dark shadow pulling on her. She tried to break free to no avail. Letting her head hang back over the edge limply, she saw a gold bracelet on the floor. __

_ I have to reach it! _She told herself frantically, trying to reach her arm out to it., but coming up 4 inches short. She stretched and strained her arm in the dark after the shiny piece of metal. _I can protect myself… I just have… to reach…_

She flipped herself over once again, and as the monster pulled at her legs with one final jerk, she thrust her arms forward and grabbed the bracelet. Using her abs to pull herself into a sit, she grabbed a pillow and tried to hit her kidnapper, which felt nothing since the pillow went right through the dark form.

"What do you want with me!?" She yelled as it pulled her in the direction of a nearby wall. "You must be blind!! That's a wall! How are you going to kidnap me like that!?"

In answer to her question, the wall began to spark white light as the figure seemed to evaporate into an outlet, pulling her with it. Still halfway out of the wall, she clawed the floor with her hands and started to scream.

"Ahhh!" Kiks screamed, jolting up out of bed instinctively. She was breathing quickly and uncontrollably.

"What's wrong!?" Inquired the voice of Odd. She looked up at him, and patted her chest. _Great… I'm still here… nothing weird… just a dream._

"I… I had a bad dream… that's all."

In a second, Odd was beside her.

"Where am I Odd?"

"In Jeremie's room… remember?"

"No."

"She fell asleep on the way here…_remember_?" Said Ulrich's voice sarcastically.

"Oh yeah…"

"Why am I in Jeremie's room?"

"Because Odd wanted to keep you as far from danger as possible, and as close to him as he could… so you're staying here tonight. And you get the dog to keep you company." He pointed down at Kiwi, who was lying on the bed next to her.

"We wanted to make sure that we could get to you quickly, if anything were to happen." Odd explained. "Its late, you should go back to sleep… I'm sure Jeremie wants us out of his room anyway."

"Sleep does sound very tempting." Jeremie commented.

Ulrich and Odd nodded. "We'll be in our room if you need us." Ulrich replied, as he walked out the door.

Odd bent over and gave Kiks a kiss on the forehead. "He means that…" he said.

A moment later, it was just Jeremie, Kiwi and Kiks in the room. Jeremie jumped into his bed and snuggled up to his pillow.

"I'm sure sleep is going to be very nice for you after denying so long, working on Aelita's program."

"Yeah. Sure is. By the way… thanks a lot for that. How'd you get it?"

She giggled to herself.

"Xana has been trying to figure out how to materialize himself for a long time… but as you know, even he makes mistakes. Basically, I just uploaded what progress you had gotten, and reviewed it along with his program. You had one half of it and he had the other."

"Smart.. Well… really… thanks, it's a dream come true."

She nodded and put her arms around Kiwi.

"You're kindof cute." She told it.

"Yeah, he's cute… he also sheds on everything and chews up slippers… trust me, I would know." Jeremie remarked, reaching over the edge of the bed and picking up a slipper with the toes chewed off, making Kiks giggle more.

"I like him… He reminds me of Odd." She put the blanket over her and the dog and laid her head on the pillow.

"Yep… He reminds me of Odd to… the both snore."

Kiks had already fallen asleep, so Jeremie turned the small lamp off.

_Well, that half explains why Odd likes her. She likes to laugh, and he likes to make people laugh. Leave it to him to pick a girlfriend that he can always make smile._

The next morning, Kiks woke early, picked up the set of clothes Odd had gotten for her and snuck out of the room. _Its early… but I have to go to Lyoko... I need to know what those monsters were that attacked me. _She thought.

Tiptoeing along the corridor toward the boiler room, she peeked into Odd and Ulrich's room. _Good. Both asleep. Odd isn't going to be very happy with me when he finds out that I'm gone.. I'll leave him a text on his phone... by the time he wakes up and see it, I'll already be at the factory._

She crossed through the boiler room, sprinting down the secret passage that eventually led her to the manhole on the bridge. Climbing up it, she looked around for any sign of a member of the group. She pulled out her cell and dialed Odd's number, typing in 'facnowrries'. _I hope he can figure that out. _

She walked silently in the factory, climbing into the elevator and hesitantly pushing the button. As the elevator rose, and eerie feeling settled on Kiks.

_Why did I have that dream? Its been so long… _She exited the elevator and headed over to the command chair in the lab.

_Okay… I'll just have to program this to do an auto transfer. Can't be to hard, right? _Slowly, she began to type in keystrokes, bringing up several different menus.

_Alright. Reprogramming this setting should help. Memory, check. Maybe… I could change my program from here? _A moment later a full screen had come up with different views of the cat form. _Right. Now…Enable these weapons, they'll help out a lot in the future. Disable ability to turn to original form. There. No more evil Kiks. No more disappointed Odds. _She patted herself on the back proudly. _Now I'll just type in the transfer sequence, and set it to run in 3 minutes. Just long enough for me to get in the scanner. _Pushing enter, she jumped out of the chair and ran to the elevator, which took her down to the scanner room. She looked down at her watch. _1 minute and 5 seconds to go. _She though as she stepped into the scanner and closed her eyes. _This has to work… come on, a person who could figure out materialization has to be able to make a simple program like this work. Please work. _She looked back down at her watch. _25 Seconds. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1… blast off. _The light inside the scanner moved up the length of her body normally, but stuck about 3 inches above her head. _Oh no. _She thought closing her eyes. _Oh no…_

A second later, a cat like creature dropped from the Lyoko sky. Kiks looked down at herself. _Phew.. I guess it did scan all of me. You're a lucky, lucky girl Kiks._

She looked around the computer world attentively. _I have no idea what I'm looking for… but I've got a feeling that _Xana _might be it. _She thought.

"SCAN." She said loudly, an unusual visor appearing in front of her eyes like sunglasses. "Useful. Glad I enabled them." She said to herself. On the inside of the visor appeared a computer screen, scanning the land and finally settling on a certain area of the artificial world. _Aha… you want to turn that tower on do you? Be my guest and try, but by the time you get to it, you can expect a freezing virus. _She began to sprint in the direction of the tower. She was now in the mountain region and was heading for the polar region. _Its okay... this'll only take a minute. _

Odd woke slowly at the sound of Jeremie's frantic voice.

"What do you want?!"

"ODD! YOUR GIRLFRIENDS GONE!"

"WHAT!?"

"She must have gotten up and left, it's the only explanation, and struggle would have woken me up."

Ulrich sat up in his bed, his eyes detecting the Odd's phone on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Well, here's your answer." He said, handing the phone to Odd.

"At factory, no worries?" He asked. "What would she be doing there?"

"Probably scanning Lyoko. My guess would be that she wants an explanation for the monsters." Jeremie remarked.

"Let's go then… we'll meet her there."

They headed out the door, running in the same direction as Kiks had earlier. A short time later the elevator doors opened to the lab.

"Where is she?" Odd asked.

"I don't know… she couldn't have gone to Lyoko on her own…"

He a seat in his chair, looking at the computer. "What?!"

"What is it?" Ulrich and Odd asked together.

"Look…" He replied, pointing to the computer screen, which was now showing a graphic map of Lyoko and a yellow triangle running along it.

"What's that?"

Jeremie clicked the triangle, a picture of Kiks came up immediately. "That would be your girlfriend…" He said in a half annoyed and disbelieving voice.

"How exactly could that be his girlfriend?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremie entered a keystroke, pulling up a separate screen with the commands that Kiks had entered.

"That's how. She entered a command for auto-transfer. Smart isn't she?" He answered, placing the microphone and earpiece on.

"What exactly are you doing Kiks?"

The yellow triangle came to an abrupt stop, and a moment later, the figure of Kiks walked onto the computer screen.

"Hehehe…" She giggled in a manner that proved she knew she was in trouble. "Overtime?"

"I'll have to watch out for you from now on… you're too smart. So what exactly are you looking for?"

"Looking for? No… what am I heading for…." She corrected. "Why don't you look at my form page?"

Jeremie did as she asked automatically noticing the changes. "Aren't you sneaky… how's that scanner working for you?"

"Well… look for yourself, I have to run." She said, continuing to sprint towards the polar region.

"Huh?" He remarked, looking at the screen she was seeing. "She's running for a tower… that Xana wants to activate?"

"WHAT?!" Ulrich and Odd asked, jumping up.

"She knows which tower Xana wants to activate, and she's running straight towards it."

Odd grabbed the earpiece from Jeremie. "What exactly do you plan to do once you reach it smarts?"

"Put a virus in it." She replied. "Oh… good morning by the way.."

"Errrggg…. You're in big trouble missy!"  
"Ahhhh… you sound like my mom."

"I didn't notice." He handed the ear piece back to Jeremie. "Can you send me in too? To somewhere were I can join up with her?"  
"Sure… I'll have to put you a little ahead though… she's not going to wait for you."

"Whatever." He retorted, hitting the elevator.

"So you're going to infect it with a virus?" Jeremie asked her.

"That's what my intentions are." She replied, breathing heavily as she ran.

"Transfer Odd. Scanner. Virtualization."

Kiks came to an immediate stop, sliding along on her cat like paws and boots. In the air about 10 feet in front of her was the virtualizing form of Odd who dropped to the ground.

"Yeah… I'm helping. Point blank."

"Okay… Fine. Lets go."

"Is that the tower?" Odd asked as the approached the large building.

"No Odd. This is a giant pencil." Kiks countered sarcastically.

"I meant, is this _the right one?_"

"Yeah. Come on." She replied, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him inside.

"So you can enter these things just like Aelita."

"It would certainly appear that way."

"You know, you don't have to treat me like I'm stupid."

"Then stop giving me rhetorical remarks and questions." She giggled, kissing him on the cheek and walking up the circular light runway.

"Stay here." She said as she floated to the top. Odd waited patiently as she moved the screens around. A moment later, she poked her head over the side, looking down on him.

"Odd. I need you to leave, don't worry about me, I promise nothing-bad will happen to me. I'll come back later, but I have to enter this computer. I might be able to stop Xana from activating towers from the inside out. You have to trust me though. Do you?" She asked. "Do you trust me?"

He looked up at her hesitantly, and finally letting out a sigh replied, "Yes. I trust you. Do what you have to and try to send us signals that you're alright… I'll be waiting for you." Blowing her a kiss, and being devirtualized.

"I love you Odd." She said quietly, turning back to the computer screens. _Here goes nothing. _She placed her hands on the screen, and prompted it to suck her in, just as she had been sucked into the power outlet so long ago.

Odd emerged in the lab, running quickly to Jeremie's side.

"Did she do it?"

"Yeah. Look." He replied, nodding at the screen. On it, the information for the tower Kiks had entered had appeared. Pointing directly to a small line in the Java, he motioned for Odd to look. Upon close observation, the words 'I love you' had appeared.

"That's so cute…" Ulrich commented, patting Odd on the back. "She used her love for her boyfriend to infect the super computers next target. She's a genius."

"What do you mean, infected?"

"She changed the code Odd. That produces a virus and reprogramming is going to be necessary before Xana can use it." Jeremie explained.

"Don't take it personally Einstein, but its not going to be hard for Xana to find that."

"Maybe not that… but she appears to be using it as a decoy. Considering that there are… 578 other single letter changes scattered through the code."

Odd jumped up and down. "MY GIRLS A GENIUS!"

The elevator doors opened again, revealing Yumi and Aelita.

"Why are you all here?"

"We followed Kiks. She came here without us…. And went into Lyoko on her own."

"ON HER OWN?" Yumi asked in astonishment.

The three boys nodded.

"I should have told you ahead of time that she would be able to. I'm sorry." Aelita said quietly and apologetically.

"Don't worry about it Aelita, you don't have to apologize for anything. She's helping out, she planted a virus in the computer. In order for Xana to activate a tower, he has to find all of her changes in programming. They're all on his turf, they don't hurt us at all." Jeremie reassured her, getting up and walking over to her, putting his arms around her in a gentle hug.

"Hehehe.." Odd chuckled, looking at the computer screen. "You go Kiks… screw him all up!" He had taken on the form of a cheerleader, jumping up and down each time a new symbol appeared… Blushing every now and then when she placed more decoys.

"What are you turning red for?" Yumi asked as she approached the computer. Odd stepped in front of it quickly, blocking her view.

"Nothing…Nothing at all.."

"Kiks is putting little I love you's to Odd all over the program."

"That's adorable!" Yumi replied, Odd turning even brighter.

"I personally think she has some guts to put it out there like that… I know I wouldn't." Ulrich remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yumi asked.

"It means that I would keep things to myself. Writing I love you where the entire world can see… its kindof embarrassing."

"You mean that if you love someone, you get embarrassed if anyone knows?"

"Yeah… it _private._"

"That's sick Ulrich."

"What?!"

"If you really loved _someone_ you wouldn't be embarrassed by it… and you wouldn't hesitate to let people know. But I'm glad to know how you feel.." She turned to Jeremie. "Can I go to Lyoko?"

"Why?"

"I just want to check things out. Without Aelita in there, its impossible to know if something weird is going on."

Jeremie walked back over and picked up the headset. "Kiks… Is it possible for you to tell what is happening in Lyoko." The encoding stopped for a moment, then a new message appeared.

'No. Can't C Anythng outside, Sry'

"Okay… Guess you were right Yumi. Go ahead to the scanners."

A moment later, the familiar commands were being initiated. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner, Virtualization."

Appearing in Lyoko, Yumi dropped to the ground.

_Errrggg. I can't believe him… 'im embarrassed to let anyone know that I like you Yumi, let alone love you… oh no… I cant do that..' As if it would kill him._

She ran along the paths to release her anger. _WHAT!?! _She thought as the path fell open in front of her, she tried to slow to a stop and grab at the ledge, to no avail.

"HEEEELLLLPPPP!" She cried pointlessly, falling into the open space at an accelerating speed.

"OH NO!" Jeremie cried. "YUMI! She just fell off the ledge! She's not on my scanners anymore! KIKS! FIND YU— what?" He looked in astonishment at the screen. All encoding had ceased an there were no messages from the brown haired super cat.

_"YUMI!"_

"KIKS!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Jeremie screamed after a moment.


	11. Fusing Aptitudes

Okay, so Heres two things for you... the chapter and its inspiration. Yes...its inspiration. What is it you ask? A Yellowcard song. Most of you have probably heard it. Its called 'Only One', and it's lyrics are directly below this note.. Feel free to read them. LUV!  
  
Broken this fragile thing now/And I can't, I can't pick up the pieces/And I've thrown my words all around/But I can't, I can't give you /a reason/I feel so broken up (so broken up)/And I give up (I give up)/I just want to tell you so you know/Here I go, scream my /lungs out and try to get to you/You are my only one/I let go, there's just no one that gets me like you do/You are my only, my only one/Made my mistakes, let you down/And I can't, I can't hold on for too long/Ran my whole life in the ground/And I can't, I can't get up when you're gone/And something's breaking up (breaking up)/I feel like giving up (like giving up)/I won't walk out until you know/Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you/You are my only one/I let go, there's just no one who gets me like you do/You are my only my only one/Here I go so dishonestly/Leave a note for you my only one/And I know you can see right through me/So let me go and you will find someone/Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you/You are my only one/I let go, there's just no one, no one like you/You are my only, my only one/My only one/My only one/My only one/You are my only, my only one  
  
Ulrich leaned over the computer screen.  
"HOW DO I GET HER BACK?!" He asked Jeremie frantically.  
"She's not showing up anywhere on this visual of Lyoko, which would mean that she has fallen out of radar, or that there's a blocked signal. The only thing that I could think of is if we reprogram the memory and scanners in each of the towers... But you all can't enter them without Aelita..."  
At the mention of her name, Aelita crossed the room and placed her hand on Jeremie's shoulder. "You know, after more than a year, I think it may finally be time for some upgrades. What do you think?"  
He nodded.  
"Upgrades?" Ulrich and Odd asked together.  
"Yes. Upgrades to your forms." Jeremie replied. "What do you suggest Aelita?"  
"Fuse my Lyokian abilities with Ulrich's, that should enable him to enter the towers... and give him a better knowledge of how to use the computers. I have no use for it right now, if I'm not going to be going into Lyoko."  
"You're not. Okay... well that would take care of Ulrich, what about Odd?"  
"Didn't Kiks unlock her form upgrade program to enable her scanner?"  
"Yeah."  
"So copy her programming code and fuse that with Odd's. They have the same basic code anyway since her form is an advanced version of his."  
"Oh... right. I almost forgot!" He remarked, opening up her program. He clicked and dragged symbols from the code, strategically placing them into Odd's programming code. The group watched in amazement as the graphic of his Lyoko self changed. "I think that should do it. It gives him all of her abilities, including her ability to enter and pause tower actions. Now for Ulrich." He pulled up yet another screen, dragging the graphic form of Aelita and dropping it on top of the graphic of Ulrich. "Its cheating, I know. But this will help out." He commented, watching this form also undergo a makeover.  
"If this works," He said, turning to the two boys, "You all are going to feel a lot different. You can go in separate directions and do the work twice as fast since you basically have the essence of Kiks and Aelita in you... both of which have a perfect knowledge of computers in Lyoko... don't get to happy if you get in and realize that you're a lot smarter... it's only while you're in Lyoko. Not to mention the chance that you might hear Kiks thoughts, Odd... which would be nice, because she could help you."  
Odd nodded, moving off towards the elevator, followed directly by Ulrich.  
"Cross your fingers Aelita."  
"Why?"  
"Oh... sorry, it's a figure of speech... it means 'hope this works.'"  
"Oh."  
"Here it goes. Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich, Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Virtualization."  
  
Falling from the sky of Lyoko, Odd and Ulrich looked down at themselves in amazement.  
Odd now bore the same markings as Kiks, the only difference being that his were purple. He felt his head, noting the presence of white cat ears.  
"I think those probably look cuter on her." He commented. His wrists were now adorned with larger arrow holders, looking like mechanical bangles. The only other main difference was the shirt, which had now turned into a tight sleeveless tank.  
"Very slimming, eh?"  
Ulrich paid no attention, for his outfit too had had a strange change. While he still sported a headband, it had turned white, along with his shirt, which matched Odds perfectly. Black baggy pants finished creating a karate illusion. He pulled his sword out and looked at it carefully.  
"Good, this is the same old thing."  
"Ulrich, you should know that you can make the land move like Aelita now." Jeremie told him.  
"Cool. Thanks. Okay... where do we go?"  
"Ummm... the polar tower is going to be last. Odd, you'll have forest, and Polar. Ulrich, you do desert and mountain."  
"So go to the forest first for me, right Jeremie?" Odd asked.  
"Yeah. Don't move in on the polar tower until I tell you to."  
"Sure thing." He replied, running in his appropriate direction as Ulrich began running towards the nearby desert tower.  
Reaching his proper tower, Ulrich ran into it quickly and floated to the top, where he found the floating computer screens.  
"What do I do?"  
"Disenable the security grid, download memory to our computer, and then power up the scanner and unblock signal... you'll have to enter a password. But this should be easy, you know how to do all of it."  
"Do I?!" As in answer to his question, his hands moved forward and began to make the appropriate changes. As his mind became conscious as to what he was doing, he tensed up.  
_ Hold on Yumi. Me and Odd are going to get you out of there.  
_ "Ulrich... all you have left to do now is enter the password and unblock the signal, allowing our computer to access its radar."  
"No problem. This password just popped right into my head." He replied, entering the appropriate code.  
"Good. Head for the next tower."  
Ulrich ran out of the tower, to be welcomed by several megatanks.  
"This is not a good time. I'm BUSY!" He yelled, running past them with his sword and slicing them all right through their eyes.  
  
Odd flipped lightly back over the large crab, pulling up his arms and taking aim at the monsters eye.  
"TAKE THIS! LASER ARROW!!" He howled, a spinning arrow projecting from his arm holsters and causing the monster to explode.  
"DON'T MESS WITH ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO FIND MY GIRLFRIEND!" He yelled at the other 4 crabs, and the two mega tanks.  
"Odd, you're not going to have an easy time with this... There are blocks coming up behind you!"  
"Hey Jeremie... where are these coming from anyway? I thought there were no towers activated..."  
"They must be rogue backup monsters... It's the only explanation."  
"Well... They're getting in my way. Check this out!"  
  
He flipped himself into the air, assuming Kiks' self destruct postion.  
"YOURE NOT GOING TO DO THAT ODD!!!"  
As a light began to glow around him, he let out a sigh and yelled, "CYCLONE HAZE!"  
A moment later, all of the monsters fell over uselessly. He landed on the ground unfazed and ran past them.  
"What, you didn't trust me?"  
"Where did that just come from!?"  
"I made it up... did you like it?"  
"How did you.... Make it up?"  
"I took Kiks' self destruct attack and her knowledge of computers, mixing them into an attack that wouldn't materialize me..."  
"You're a genius Odd."  
"I know. But Kiks told me to do it."  
"So you are getting her thoughts?"  
"No.... I got a vision of her doing it."  
"Whatever... just get to that tower."  
Entering the tower, he preformed the same procedure as Ulrich and used the tower to transport him to the polar region.  
"Alright. I'm on my way to the Polar tower."  
"Good."  
  
"Mountain tower checked off of the list." Ulrich retorted.  
"Okay, you need to run over to the polar tower, that's where Odd is going."  
  
A little while later, both of the upgraded forms were waiting outside of the Polar tower for instructions.  
"Tell us how to get Yumi and Kiks back now."  
"Okay. You have to do the same thing that you did in the other two, but you also have to remember that this is where Kiks entered, so you're going to have to create a new program to trick the computer into repelling unusual programs... which is what Kiks is."  
"If it gets my girl out... no problemo!" Odd answered, rushing into the building.  
"I take it he knows what he's doing?" Ulrich asked.  
"He's got Kiks brain now, I wouldn't worry."  
"So how is this going to help Yumi?"  
"We'll be able to pick her up on radar and see what's going on. Then you'll just have to go and find her, and pull her out of Lyoko."  
"Which I do how?"  
"I'll materialize both of you, and if you're holding on to her, it should direct her back to the scanner room with you."  
"Cool."  
"PROGRAMS UP, GET AWAY FROM THE TOWER."  
"What?"  
Odd ran out of the tower, pushing Ulrich onto the ground as the tower exploded.  
"IS THAT NORMAL!?!?!"  
"Its what I was expecting. Look up... the computer says we have another dot on our radar very close to you." Looking up the two boys could see the familiar form of Kiks, floating in the air, and touching back down on the ground lightly.  
"Thanks." She said as she fell forward weakly and materialized. Odd jumped forward, then turned to Ulrich.  
"I think the rest is up to you."  
"Thanks for helping."  
"No problem. I have to go back now."  
Ulrich nodded as Odd too devirtualized.  
"Now where's Yumi?"  
"The radar says that she's in the forest region, and you better move fast because her life points are low and getting lower as we speak. If she devirtualizes before you get to her, we're going to have a problem."  
"Say no more."  
Ulrich ran as fast as was possible toward the forest area, cutting branches out of his way, and jumping from path to path. _Where are you Yumi?_ He thought, scanning the area. _What's that light?  
_ "You're very close Ulrich."  
"I don't suppose that you're picking up a guardian anywhere near."  
"Hold on... I'll scan... Actually yes... I think its guarding Yumi."  
Ulrich had just run up on the giant orb encircling the black haired girl. He pulled his sword out and faced it.  
"Remember that you have to create a clone of Yumi using Aelita's powers." Jeremie reminded.  
"That's what you think." Charging at the guardian he placed his sword straight in front of him. "LET GO OF MY GIRLFRIEND!" He scowled, sinking the sword into the base and ripping it up through the guardian, splitting it in half.  
"SHE HAS 6 LIFE POINTS LEFT ULRICH!"  
Ulrich pushed the guardian out of his way and grabbed his fallen love from it just before she fell.

"Yumi... hey...wake up..." He said quietly, touching her face. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him.

"I'll have you know that I _do_ love you... next time.. give me a chance to fix things before you stomp off and get yourself lost in the computer. But, a person shouldn't have to tell the rest of the world that he loves someone, for that person to know." He kissed her gently. "However... if you want me too... Id be glad to.." She smiled up at him.   
"DEVIRTUALIZATION NOW."  
The bodies of Ulrich and Yumi materialized into the scanners in the scanner room.  
"Glad to have you back," Jeremie's voice answered. "But—now we have a problem... a BIG one."  
  
Angel Soleil: What can I say guys.? Since I started working with Yumigirl06.... I've gotten into the habit of leaving you with annoying cliffhangers... I can't help it... ITS FUN! ( I LOVE ODD!!! YAY!!! Please review...! Luv ya!


	12. Bereavement for Disoriented Cohorts

Im really proud of this chapter for some reason peeps... Im not sure how much your gonna like it though.. heehee.. just wait...

"What's wrong Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.  
"Well... I'm... I don't know how to..." His head dropped.  
"Jeremie??"  
"It's Odd and Kiks... they... there was something wrong with their materialization coordinates...they're....umm.... well...." He used his head to gesture to the lab.  
"What's wrong with them!?!?" Yumi cried, jumping up immediately.  
"You two better go see for yourselves."  
When the elevator doors opened to the lab, they spotted Aelita, who was guarding two objects. Walking towards her, their eyes widened in horror.  
"That's not... what... they're not..." Yumi asked hesitantly.  
"They're not breathing... they can't."  
They stared on at the two fragile forms. The body of Kiks was in a chair, hanging limply over the back with her arms drooping and her eyes wide open. Odd was lying on the floor next to her, eyes also wide open. What made the sight more unusual was that these were not material bodies, they were virtual bodies, both of which would spark every now and then.  
"Computer programs can't breath... and they can't survive outside of a computer." Jeremie remarked, his voice cracking. "I don't know what to do... I feel like its all my fault." A tear began to run down his face and Aelita got up to comfort him.  
"It wasn't your fault. It should have been me... not them... Kiks was just...trying to help... and Odd... he was helping me find Yumi..." Ulrich slammed his fist into the wall. "I should have gone alone!"  
"No.... everyone... it was _my fault_. You all went in there looking for me... Poor Odd...Kiks..." She too began to cry. "They're not going to—to—you know..."  
"I don't know Yumi.." Jeremie replied sadly. "What makes this worse is that their programs aren't on the computer anymore. The disappeared when the virtual versions transferred through the scanner."  
Yumi looked down and detected the slight movement of their hands, which appeared to be trying to reach each other.  
"Their hands are moving!" She cried.  
"That's the program trying to work. It's kind of like a computer with a virus. It strains to work, but goes very slowly and eventually restarts or gives you a blue screen to say that it can't work."  
She looked at them again, and grabbed Odd, pulling him closer to Kiks and placing their hands together.  
"They wanted each other..."  
"Yumi—"Jeremie began to comment, stopping when Yumi turned on him, her eyes full of tears and a hateful tone in her voice.  
"JEREMIE! THEY WANTED EACHOTHER! I know that they know what's happening to them! I know... I can see them thinking! If I were dieing.... All I would want is the person I love... that's how things are! Think about what would happen if you and Aelita were dieing!! What would you wish?!"  
"That... that I could comfort her...."  
"EXACTLY!" she yelled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.  
Ulrich had stooped down onto the ground and picked up Odd's other hand with both of his.  
"I'm sorry Odd... I don't know how to stop this... but I know you're going to make it through... you always do... because you're my best friend... and you wouldn't leave me here without you... I know you wouldn't."  
"We should go... I want to check the computer back in the dorms for their program information... maybe then I'll be able to reboot them later."  
"What about them!?" Yumi and Ulrich cried together.  
"There's nothing we can do right now... and you know as well as I do that they would want us to be working on a way to bring them back after their gone!"  
They both looked down at the two seemingly unconscious friends.  
"I guess you're right.. We'll come back later..." With that, they walked solemnly out of the factory.  
  
_ 'This bites... I can't die this way... I don't...I never... I CAN'T DIE AS A COMPUTER GAME!! No!!! This isn't right! Why me?? Why Odd... I can't... I won't even be able to say goodbye to Odd...'  
'Don't worry... we'll be alright.'  
'Odddd!?!?!?! How are you... how are you doing that???'  
'Fusion of info, remember?'  
'Thank god for that.'  
'Yeah... don't worry Kiks'  
'Odd... we're goners.'  
'No. Don't think like that. What ever happens... we'll be together... and I want you to know something.'  
'What?'  
'I'll love you no matter what... and you're going to hand on... for me...'  
'I already knew that... If you decided now of all times that you hated me... I wouldn't still be here... would I?'  
'Hehehe. Any ideas on getting us out of this mess now?'  
'WHAT!?'  
'You're the smarter one between the two of us!'  
'Yeah... and.. I can't...I...'  
'What?'  
'My... my program is... its... shutti—'  
'KIKS!'  
_  
Jeremie threw his head down on the keyboard with a feeling of failure in his heart. Aelita put her arms around him from behind, trying yet again to comfort him.  
"Their programs are erased from here to. All that's left is a graphic." He said, pulling up two graphics of Odd and Kiks' forms. "Two graphics that are going to haunt me for the rest of my life." He scowled, hitting his head on the keyboard again.  
"If you break your keyboard you wont be any help Jeremie." Ulrich said quietly.  
"I'm trying to do things Odd's way. Think about it... he dropped candy on the stupid thing and magically made my materialization program for Aelita work... I just... I want... I want to get them back so bad..."  
"We all do."  
"Why can't we just put them a scanner and send them back to Lyoko? Skipping the virtualization step?" Yumi asked.  
"Because their programs are missing, and without the programs they can't go through the scanners."  
"You can't make a new form?"  
"Not when they already have one... plus they would have to be virtualized to get a new form... and they already are virtualized..."  
"Oh."  
"What are we going to tell Odd's parents? OR... What about... Kiks? We don't know anything about her... nothing about her family or anything..." Ulrich asked.  
"Why don't you check the school records out Jeremie?" Aelita asked.  
"Good idea." He replied, pulling up the school database and shuffling through the names. "Uh... we don't know her full name..."  
"Check there!" Aelita offered, pointing at 'new students'. When opened, the only folder inside was that of Kiks. He opened it and looked at its contents.  
"She's from the U.S. Umm... Kiaka ... She has one sister, Sol. It mentions her mother, her father died over 10 years ago... ummm.... That's about all it says..."  
"A mom and a sister... oh man..."  
"I didn't know that she was from the U.S. Her name made me think that she was from somewhere in Europe." Yumi said quietly.  
"Well... you never know..."  
"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS!" Yumi cried suddenly. "I WILL NOT TELL MY FRIENDS PARENTS THAT THEY ARE DEAD!" She got up angrily and stomped off out the door.  
"Back to the factory I suppose." Ulrich said as she exited, following after her as fast as he could.  
  
"They're gone... WHY ARE THEY GONE JEREMIE?!" Yumi asked in shock when they reached the lab.  
"It would appear that their programs finally froze up and quit on them..."  
"THEN WHY ARE THEY GONE?!"  
"Because... programs that don't work are deleted..."  
"WHAT!?"  
"I told you that it was going to happen Yumi..."  
"I can't believe this... their completely gone?"  
Jeremie nodded sadly. "Unless there was some kind of miracle that we didn't catch... they're gone Yumi. Sorry to tell you and all... it makes us all sad." He turned around to find Ulrich sitting at the computer.  
"What are you doing!?"  
"Well... if you don't mind, I decided that the computer know nothing should get a chance to try to find this so called program that we need to bring back our friends...and I'm starting with this screen that Odd was hiding from Yumi earlier."  
"You're crazy! If _Aelita and me_ couldn't find it... how are you going to?!"  
"Don't know yet... haven't thought about it..."  
"Please don't break that Ulrich."  
"Why would it matter? We have Aelita... you can't find Kiks and Odd... well.. let me rephrase that... you found them, but you couldn't save them... so the worst thing that could happen is that I get angry, throw a fit and break down the computer, leaving Xana to rot in his stupid little world."  
"Not that easy Ulrich... and if there is a chance of saving them, I won't be able to if I don't have a computer!"  
"You've said five million times that you can't possibly find the solution to saving them, if there even is one... so back off Okay? They were just as much my friends as they were yours."  
Jeremie thought for a moment. "Okay, you're right. You're absolutely right... they are just as much your friends as they are mine.." He sat down and waited patiently, beckoning for Ulrich to do what he wanted with a hand gesture.  
"You're mad now... aren't you?"  
"No, of course not. We've just lost number 1 and 2 on dearest friends list and on my not want to lose list... now I can't help but be worried about number 6."  
"The computer?"  
"I like computers okay... that one is very high-tech..."  
"Get over yourself Jeremie."  
Yumi and Aelita had begun to laugh at the brawl between the two boys. Ulrich turned and looked at Yumi.  
"I'm glad that you find this amusing." He said with a small smile.  
"Sorry..." She replied. "Listen.. I think... as much as I don't want to.... Something's telling me... that Jeremie was right when he said that they weren't coming back. I don't know why but... its weird."  
"Yes Yumi... they aren't coming back... because they've died already."  
"Wouldn't there be a material body somewhere."  
"No... they were virtual. That means that their material bodies are lost in the super computers scanners. There's no way for us to find them. They probably don't even exist anymore. What's confusing me is why both of them had the problem."  
"May I offer my thoughts?" Aelita asked politely.  
"Of course!" They all said together, just now realizing their exclusion of the newly materialized genius.  
"I believe that when we fused Odd and Kiks, a code change was made, creating a virus just like the one that Kiks placed into the tower. The virus would have slowly destroyed the program, and since they were fused, they both had it... creating a ripple effect, deteriorating Kiks and then Odd... the attempt to materialize from the spot where the infected tower had been, probably caused them to stay in virtual form, but from then on it was their own viruses."  
"Why didn't I think of that?!?!" Jeremie said, jumping up and down in a tantrum. "EEERRRGGG... ALL WE WOULD HAVE NEEDED WAS A REALLY GOOD PROGRAM TO DEFUSE THEM AN ISOLATE THEIR VIRUSES SEPERATELY!"  
"Wait... they were fused... did Odd hear Kiks thoughts the same way I heard Aelita's?" Ulrich asked.  
"Yeah."  
"So then..." He turned to Yumi. "They did get to say goodbye. That's probably what was happening earlier when you said you could see them thinking... and grabbing for each other."  
"That makes me feel a little bit better." Yumi admitted. Ulrich picked up the headset and placed it on his head, opening up a visual of Lyoko. Jeremie looked on in amazement that he had gotten this far.  
"I would like to make an announcement to all of you creeps on Lyoko... YOU SUCK!!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU XANA.... NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.. AND I'M COMING AFTER YOU!! THEN I'M GOING TO GET MY FRIENDS BACK!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.  
He took the headset back off and walked silently to the other side of the room taking a seat against the wall and smiling.  
"What was that for?" Jeremie asked in silent perplexity.  
"Oh.. that... that would be me assigning blame, finding a target for my anger, and letting Kiks and Odd know that I'm going to find them.."  
"Ulrich... have you not learned anything?"  
"Oh no... I learned... I just know that it can't be right.."  
"How so?"  
"Go take a look at the screen I pulled up earlier... for the towers fractal code... you might find it coincidence... I don't though... I think it was left for us by our dear virtual friends... Not to mention, added from the outside... not the inside."  
They all walked over to the screen, leaving Ulrich by the wall.  
"WHAT?!?!"  
  
Angel Soleil: All I'll say... is... (Ahem) ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! And I could mention that I killed my character or did I?? No.. I did. sorry... but I'll leave that out... lol.... Heehee... sucks to be you! Luv YA!


	13. A Heroes Return

Alright... ummm...well... message for my reviewer, littleblazingstar... I'm sorry I upset you... but... this will be jjjjjjjuuuusssstttt for you... because... I mean _really_? How could I kill Odd and my character right? It was just such a horrible thing to do! And uh... For mine and Yumigirl06's new groupie...whom I am now nicknaming cheesehead... I promised you a blurb too... so.. for your amusement... there is cheese. LUV YA ALL!! By the way....I'm going to be mean ... I'm going to give you another annoying cliff hanger... -... -.- and there's nothing you can do about it!!! Evil laugh  
  
"Ulrich! This isn't a message left by Odd and Kiks..." Jeremie said with  
a worried look on his face.  
"Well, it wasn't there earlier."  
"Actually... it probably was... Ulrich... this is part of the code Xana's  
using to materialize his monsters."  
"Huh??"  
"Its part of an encrypted set of symbols. The monster that attacked Kiks had to have gotten in by this adjustment."  
"So... why didn't we see it earlier?"  
"We weren't looking. It didn't seem peculiar... just like one of Kiks additions. Xana must have been using her decoys as models for his own... except his were the real thing."  
"_Great_. That means that there are probably monsters everywhere. Are they materializing from our scanners?" Yumi asked.  
"No. From what Odd said, it would appear that they can materialize and dematerialize from anywhere." Jeremie answered.  
"Jeremie..." Aelita's voice was soft but audible.  
"Yes?"  
"I think... they're... _here_." She whispered, her eyes looking toward the ceiling, guiding the group to her conclusion. Overhead, soft tapping sounds could be heard, the unmistakable sound of pointed metal legs scaling the ground.  
"They're on the top level! There's no way we'll be able to get out without running into them! We don't even know how many there are!" Yumi cried in astonishment.  
"Well—we can't stay here. They'll find a way down." Ulrich concluded.  
Jeremie looked toward the elevator door.  
"I guess we'll just have to take the elevator and fight them off."  
Everyone nodded in agreement.  
"Whatever you do... _don't let Aelita get hurt_... there's no other way to fix those towers, because Ulrich's fusion is getting disabled. I don't want what happened to Kiks and Odd to happen to him." Jeremie said as they boarded the elevator. Yumi and Ulrich had both grabbed pieces of metal about the size of baseball bats for protection.  
The elevator doors slid open, creating more noise than the remembered. Popping their heads out slowly, they scanned the room.  
"Nothings here. There aren't any monsters." Yumi whispered in confusion.  
Ulrich stepped out of the elevator and knocked his piece of metal against the side of the elevator and watched as monsters began to appear in the dark shadows of the factory.  
"Never speak to soon."  
"Good job Ulrich. Now they're all coming after us."  
"At least we know where they are now." He replied, beginning to jab at the eye of a nearby block monster.  
"Oh man! Mega Tanks too?" Yumi said in annoyance.  
Jeremie grabbed onto the end of the rope hanging from the ceiling, and began to throw himself around, kicking as many monsters as he could.  
"You're going to need actual weapons to get rid of them Jeremie!" Aelita directed.  
"It's a little difficult to get to one when you're hanging from a rope and trying not to be cooked by lasers!" He screamed back, climbing higher on his rope.  
"THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN HOLD ALL OF THEM OFF!!" Yumi bellowed.  
"Try to get Aelita out!" Ulrich added to Jeremie.  
Jeremie allowed himself to slide down the rope, kicking his feet on a block and causing him to swing. He grabbed Aelita by the hand just as the rope began to swing back.  
"Try to climb on the rope!!" He yelled, using his free hand and legs to climb up slowly. Aelita had grabbed the rope and was trying to stay out of the line of fire as Ulrich and Yumi began warding off the monsters at the bottom.  
"OH NO!" Yumi cried. "_They don't die when we stab them_!!"  
"Jeremie!? WHY ARENT THEY DIEING!?" Ulrich asked in dismay, thrusting his metal piece into the eye of a nearby block.  
"I think you must need your weapons from Lyoko! You have to climb now! There's no way your going to beat Lyoko monsters if you're not virtualized!"  
Ulrich grabbed Yumi around the stomach and threw her upwards, allowing her to get a head start on the rope. Grabbing the rope himself, he felt something grabbing him. He looked down to seeing a new monster, it had mechanical claws and laser eyes all along the top of its round body. _Where's its eye_? Ulrich asked in confusion, kicking his feet and trying to get free. The monster yanked him down fiercely, and Yumi grabbed his hand to keep him up, being pulled down with him. Both teenagers went falling to the floor, the monster clenching their necks in its claws. Yumi turned to Ulrich in pain.  
"Ulrich—I..." She started, tears of agony beginning to roll down her cheek. "I love you..."  
"I love you too Yumi. Don't give up... we can get this off of us. I—know—we –can..."  
"_No we can't Ulrich_... Its too strong.. and what do we have to have faith in? This isn't like before... there isn't anyone out dea—deactivating a tower. We're done for Ulrich... theres... no way..."  
"Hold on Yumi!" He reassured, kicking at the monster over top of them.  
"ULRICH!! YUMI!!!" Jeremie and Aelita yelled.  
"Hey! Do you all like baseball?"  
"Did you say that Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.  
"NO... didn't you?"  
"No."  
"I love baseball!"  
"This is no time to play around Aelita!"  
"I didn't say anything! It was Yumi!"  
"I didn't say—anything... I'm a little—jammed up!"  
"STOP FIGHTING YOU STUPID MORONS!"  
"Which one of you girls said that!?"  
Above them, A shadowy figure had picked up a slab of metal and used it as a baseball bat, sending a hornet flying across the width of the building. From the other side of the room came,"LASER ARROW!"  
"ODD!?!!?"  
They all looked up in surprise and admiration as an arrow flew up from the ground and the monster on top of Yumi and Ulrich disappeared.  
"MULTIPLY!" Came the voice of Kiks, appearing above them and dividing into four, free falling to the ground and battling with the monsters.  
"Don't you DARE mess with MY friends you freaks!" Odd yelled, his virtual form jumping onto the back of a mega tank and shooting an arrow into its eye.  
The figures that were Kiks and Odd jumped around at the speed of light, wiping out every mechanism in the factories room... including the factory equipment that Kiks decided to take her anger out on.  
"LIKE I SAID... I WAS not ABOUT TO DIE AS A COMPUTER GAME! NOT WITHOUT BRINGING YOU DOWN TOO!"  
"Kiks. Chill." Odd said, grabbing her with one arm around her waist and dragging her along towards the hanging couple and the injured Yumi and Ulrich, whose necks were slightly cut and bleeding from the mechanical arms.  
"I WASN'T DONE WITH THAT JUNKPILE OF METAL YET!!"  
"It doesn't matter."  
"You're... you're.... Alive." Ulrich said in amazement, touching Odd's virtual leg.  
"Well what did you expect? This is _me_ we're talking about..."  
"How are your programs working here?" Jeremie asked.

"We hacked their code. Fixed ours." Kiks said. "Come on now... you didn't actually think I was going to give up without a fight now did you?"  
"Not particularly."

"I'll tell you... the worst part of that, was listening to you all blubber... I thought I was going to die just listening to that... you all mope a lot."  
"We were upset." Yumi said, crossing anger and amusement. "Next time  
you die though, I won't give a long speech." Kiks smiled back at her.

"Hey Jeremie, do you mind uploading our programs from our data source and memory core? I'd like to be back to normal as soon as possible."  
"_Seriously,_ I feel like I'm breathing nails." Odd added.  
"No problem. Lets get back down to the lab... For the 3rd time today."  
  
Kiks stepped out of the scanner and threw her arms around Odd. The group watched as the two spun in circles happily.  
"I'm guessing that it feels nicer to be normal again." Ulrich commented.  
"You have no idea." Kiks answered, giving Ulrich and Yumi an equally big hug, and following up with Jeremie and Aelita.  
"If its all the same with you... I think I'll _not_ be bugging towers for a _very _long time."  
"Fine by me." Jeremie replied with a smile. "I think the last virus should keep Xana trapped for a while... you should consider doing something other than Xana fighting... not to mention, we were all getting a little scared by the idea of having to tell your mom and sister that you were dead... so... you _need_ a break."  
"How'd you—how'd you know about... them?" She asked slowly, backing away.  
"The School database... it... had your records."  
"Oh..."  
"We're uh... sorry about your dad Kiks." Ulrich said quietly, putting his arm around her.  
"Its fine... I... barely noticed when he died anyway." They all watched bewilderment as Kiks turned and walked out the door despondently.  
"Uhh—"  
"Just let her go Ulrich." Odd said. "If she doesn't want to tell us about her family, then she doesn't have to. It might be something that she wants to keep to herself."  
"Right." He answered, nodding his head in agreement.  
  
"This needs to be cleaned."  
"I cleaned that yesterday, Dad!" Kiks pleaded.  
"Don't argue with me!" He bellowed. "You clean this kitchen NOW!"  
"But—"  
"You want to argue more? You can scrub the bathroom floor then."  
"Dad!! Please—"  
"DON'T 'PLEASE' ME! Go clean.. NOW. I wont tell you again!"  
She let her head fall and grabbed up a bottle of bleach and a spare toothbrush.  
"I'm tempted to make you use yours for arguing with me." He commented, spitting on the floor and walking out of the room.  
"I take it I'm supposed to clean that up too?"  
"No sh—"  
"Please don't curse around me..." She said angrily, cutting him off and causing him to walk back in the room. He grabbed her neck and looked down on her.  
"I'll say whatever I want to you little wench." He scowled, throwing his hand across her face and stomping back out of the room.  
"I hate him..." She whispered to herself, as the back door opened and she dropped to the floor in fear.  
"Chill out Sis. Its just me." Kiks turned back around to look at her big sister.  
"Oh... hey Sol."  
"Was he just yelling at you again?"  
"Its no big deal... I was just being stupid..."  
"Listen Kia... NO ONE yells at my little sis. You're not stupid... and I detest the fact that that hobgoblin of a dad has you believing otherwise." The tall brown haired girl knelt down and grabbed the hand of the miniature version of her, pulling her to her feet. "Come on." She said, pulling on her hand and throwing the toothbrush on the floor. She led her into the room where their father was seated on a couch, reading a newspaper with his feet up on the table, allowing the dirt to drop off.  
"Alright. MOVE YOUR SICK FEET!" Sol yelled, kicking his feet off the table. Her father got up quickly and stared at her. Unlike Kiks, she was eyelevel with him and not intimidated by him, since she was undoubtedly the best fighter.

"You..." He grimaced.  
"What are you going to do about _me_? Huh... you can't fight me because I'll win... and you _know it_."  
"What do you want?"  
"I want you to apologize to Kia. Then go scrub your own floor... after all, it is YOUR spit on it."  
"I _will not_ clean that damn floor!" He said, slapping her just as he had slapped Kiks.  
"Wrong answer." She said calmly, her anger all in her eyes. She lunged at her father, pushing him toward the window.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He hollered. "You know if you do anything stupid, the neighbors will see... and the police will be here in _seconds_."  
"Making you get OUT of our house!" She screamed back, throwing in all of her strength and sending him flying through the window. He fell limply on the ground outside, Sol looking down on him loathingly.  
"Don't _ever_ treat my sister like that again, pond scum." She said, just as police sirens became audible. A few seconds later, an ambulance and a police car pulled into the drive. Scooping up both father and daughter.  
"You're coming with us." The police man said to Sol, tugging her along cruelly.  
"WAIT!" Kiks cried in horror, running after them. Before she could reach the car, the engine revved and it took off down the road, along with the other cars. Kiks sunk to the ground, crying uncontrollably and banging her fists on the gravel, which created cuts and stung her hands.  
"Kiks? C-can I talk to you?"  
Kiks opened her eyes slowly, trying to see the blurry image through the tears. She sat up and hugged her knees, trying not to fall over on the bed, hiding her head to the best of her ability, after nodding a barely noticeable yes.  
A moment later, Odd was on the bed next to her, with his arm around her shoulders.  
"Kiks...you—you know that... you can talk to me... about anything...right?" She nodded again.  
"I just... I don't like... seeing you this upset. You know...waking up crying... its... I—"  
She picked her head up and looked at him lovingly, putting her arms around him and cuddling her head up on his neck.  
"Thank you Odd."  
"Uhhh...you uh... you want some cheese?" He asked holding up a block of cheese. Kiks looked at it in confusion and finally began to laugh. Odd smiled.  
"Glad to be of some amusement.." He commented, kissing her on the forehead and suddenly becoming serious. "It was your dad wasn't it?"  
She picked her up again, looking him in the eyes for a minute before closing hers and gently nodding.  
"He beat you?" Odd guessed, becoming angry when she nodded again.  
"My...my big sister... she always stood up for me... I was too little... and I couldn't fight... I was... useless...Sol did what I couldn't... she...she protected me and got punished for it..."  
"What?"  
"My dad... died of blood loss... because... he had been yelling at me... and... Sol pushed him out a window... they took her to jail... and ... and charged her with murder... NOw... Im the best fighter...that i can be... and... it would make her proud...." The tears began to flow freely down her face, and her ability to talk was lost.  
"I'm so sorry." Odd replied affectionately, pulling her closer. "Well... no one will ever beat you again... I promise..."  
The door flew open and Jeremie, Ulrich and Yumi flew in, almost falling over each other.  
"Odd... you have to get her OUT."


	14. Talk about Wrong

Sorry its taken so long to update guys! Really... really.. sorry... well here,. your gonna hate me.. maybe.. I hope not... cus i need you all to read and review.. otherwise... i think my stuffs horrible... lol.. I LUV YOU GUYS!! Oh yeah... a note about this chapter. Anyone who hasnt read The Ties That Bind by Yumigirl06... you should! The character Kiki that you meet in this chapter... is supposed to be the same Kiki as in that one.. and of course.. you get to see my awesomeness in dialogue in hers.

"What are you all talking about?" Odd asked in confusion.

"Sorry… are we interrupting something?"

"… Do you want me to answer that? Honestly? What were you talking about?"

"Actually." Jeremie replied. "That was just a drill. If it were real, we'd probably be in a load of trouble. Considering that you didn't make the slightest attempt to move."

"You're kidding me.. right?"

"No."

Odd looked at his friends in disbelief and annoyance. "Oh… my god… couldn't you all tell that she was—"

"Its alright Odd. I don't mind. Really." Kiks spoke up quietly.

Odd nodded to her understandingly before turning back to look at the rest of the gang. "Can we _not _do that again please?"

"Yeah, Sorry Odd." Ulrich chuckled. "Did you here that Kiki is going to be in town this week? I heard that she might move back."

"K-Kiki?" Kiks asked, a look of worry crossing her face.

"She's an old friend of ours. She knows about Lyoko too…"

"Oh…"

"Kiks… I was thinking—" Jeremie started. "You've been through a lot of the Xana side lately, maybe you should take a break for a while. With Kiki here, she could fill in for you."

She nodded hesitantly, trying not to let her disappointment show. "Okay. But—what would I do? I'll be so bored…"

"Don't you have a sport or something that you like to play? Maybe you could join a team." Ulrich answered.

"I guess so."

"I think you need to get some rest." Odd said, cutting off the conversation. "We can talk about this in the morning. Currently… we just need to go to bed."

The group said goodnight to Kiks, and left the room, Jeremie explaining he was going to spend the night in the factory working on restoring Kiki's Lyokian form. Odd waited for a moment after they had gone, and turned back to Kiks.

"About… your dad… and your sister—"

"Yeah?"

"… you just have to let it go Kiks. It wasn't your fault. Think about that, okay?"

She nodded her consent as he left. Laying her head back down on the pillow, tears began to fall from her eyes again, slower than before. She began to hum a song to herself, hugging the pillow tightly and mulling the words over in her head.

"I need some sleep, time to put the old horse down, I'm in too deep and the wheels keep spinning round. Everyone says, you're getting down to low, Everyone says ' you just gotta let it go'. "

_They're… They're sick of me… I know they are. I don't know this Kiki… but I have to prove to them that I'm better. I can deal with Xana better than anyone. I can't be replaced… I just cant._

She began to drift into unconsciousness, losing all contact with the dark room around her, and falling back into yet another nightmare.

"So… do you think you should… you know… tell Kiks a little more about Kiki?" Ulrich asked Odd as they walked toward their room.

"Why? So she can fall into an uncontrollable rage and try repeatedly to put me through intense pain?"

"Well… Its not gonna look very good if you hold off and she finds out on her own Odd. That'll probably just make her madder. I know it would for any other girl."

"Listen Ulrich. Kiki and me aren't together anymore. We had our time, it didn't work."

"Actually… It worked perfectly until she moved. As far as I was concerned… I thought you two were trying a long distance relationship, in which case she may think you're still dating."

"Then Ill tell _her _that I found someone new and that we need to move on… but I'm not mentioning anything to Kiks."

"Don't you think that's a bit awkward?"

"What?"

"Kiki and Kiks, the two love interests of Odd."

"No. Kiks, Odd's only love interest." He scowled.

"You say that now… but what if you change your mind when you see Kiki?"

"You think that that could happen?" Odd asked, falling into a state of worry. "After all that me and Kiks have been through… you don't actually think that.. just seeing Kiki could change anything… do you?"

"I dunno. You loved Kiki.. and you love Kiks. When you love someone, it cant just go away Odd… So I think… you're going to have a problem. I'm telling you, you need to just explain to Kiks that you two used to be together, but that you're trying to move on and that you want to do it with her."

Odd looked at the floor in desperation, unsure of how he was going to handle the situation. "If I tell her that we were together… she'll be suspicious and wont trust me."

"Well… when you don't tell her and she sees the way you look at Kiki, or overhears Kiki saying something about the past… she'll be suspicious anyway. But hey—you know her better than I do. So do whatever you want." Ulrich finished laying down on his bed and turning away from Odd.

Odd sighed heavily. "Your probably right… but Id rather tell her _after _her greatly needed vacation."

"I can understand that. But…"

"What?"

"You don't think the way Jeremie told her that Kiki could take her place… upset her? Do you?"

"Oh.. I didn't think about that."

"She looked sort of disappointed."

"I'm sure she's fine with it."

"Yeah.. she is pretty understanding. I probably just read her wrong." Ulrich said, reaching over and cutting off his light.

"I am looking forward to seeing Kiki again."

"We all are. She's fun to work with."

"Yeah. She had mad fighting skills."

"Uhhh… Kiks does to Odd…"

"I know. But the difference is that a) Kiki doesn't blow herself up and b) Kiki doesn't have the same form as me."

Ulrich laughed. "Go to sleep Odd."

"G' Night Ulrich." Odd surrendered.

"Holy cow! YOU LOOK GREAT!" Yumi cried, hugging her old friend.

The blonde haired girl laughed happily. "I'm just glad you all haven't forgotten me!" She said, hugging each person in turn, and giving Odd an especially long embrace.

"We missed you." He said quietly, turning red.

"I missed you all too!"

"So where'd you go?" Jeremie asked.

"Oh.. I went back to the U.S. for a while. You know… to see my parents and what not."

Kiks watched the group from behind a large pillar, letting out a heavy sigh. _I'm done. They really like her._ _They wouldn't miss me. _She left the safety of the pillar and began to walk toward her class, not looking toward the group. _I'm sure they'll stop me and try to introduce me… they probably.. just… didn't want to bother me this morning.. I'm sure that's it… they didn't want to wake me up… _She tried her best to reassure herself, although she knew that the group had probably forgotten her in the rush to meet up with their old groupie.

Ulrich looked up, the smile fading off of his face as he watched Kiks walk away.

"What's wrong Ulrich?" Kiki asked.

"Oh—uh… nothing. I hope you don't mind, but I have to talk to Ms. Mayor before class… so… I'm going to have to leave you guys."

"No problem." They answered, Ulrich walking off in the direction that Kiks had been going. He entered the school building cautiously.

_I was right. She's upset. No one in their right minds would go to class _this _early. _Turning around a corner slowly, Kiks came into view. He saw her leaning her back up against a locker, staring at the ground miserably; her arms wrapped around her books.

"Hey Kiks." He said quietly, coming towards her.

" Hi Ulrich. " She answered, a noticeably fake smile crossing her face.

"You didn't come and talk to us this morning."

"Yeah… I didn't want to interrupt your reunion."

He put his arm around her in a hug.

"Spit it out Kiks."

"What?"

"You're upset. I can tell."

She looked back down at the ground in slight embarrassment and sadness. "You all… Jeremie… he said…--"

"She isn't replacing you Kiks."

"No… I know.." A moment of silence past, followed up by Kiks shrugging Ulrich's arm off of her. She looked at him, tears beginning to swell her eyes. "She's just taking back what was hers."

She turned and ran, putting her hand to her eyes as she went, and practically throwing herself through the doors.

Ulrich looked after her, unsure of what to do. He turned back in the direction he had came and went back out to where the rest of the group was standing.

"You talked to her?" Yumi asked.  
"Who?"

"Ms. Mayor."

"Oh… yeah… I did. It… wasn't pretty." He looked down at the ground, thinking over what little Kiks had said and finally shooting Odd an 'I need to talk to you' glance, which Odd nodded back to.

"So Kiki… I reinstated your Lyoko form, I hope you don't mind being back on the team?"

"Are you _kidding!?_ Fighting with you all in Lyoko is what I live for!"

"Cool." Odd said. "You have Ms. Mayor first period with us? Right?"

"Yeah. Can.. can I sit with you? I never really got to know any of these other people."

"Sure." He answered.

"You don't mind.. do you Ulrich?"

"Umm.. no. Actually, I was going to sit with.. uh… Kiks."

"Kiks? Whose that?"

"Her name is Kiaka. She's really cool." Odd replied. "She knows about Lyoko too. She's an awesome fighter… I'm sure you two would really like working together."

"Uh… I _guess._"

"Well you wont be worrying about working together for quite awhile, I've set Kiks on a nice long vacation…"

"Why? Did she screw something up?"

The group looked back with wide eyes. "NO!" Jeremie said hurriedly, noticing the way his statement had sounded. "Lets just say that Xana _really _likes her."

"I though you said she was a good fighter… what does it matter?"

Before anyone could answer, the bell rang and the hordes of students began to rush across the courtyard towards their classes.

"We'll be late if we don't hurry!" Jeremie said as quickly as before.

Walking into the room, Odd sat in his normal place, Kiki by his side. Jeremie sat behind them and Ulrich took a seat on the other side of the room. He looked around, not seeing Kiks anywhere. _Great. She hasn't come back yet. She must be really upset. _Ms. Mayor's sight fell on Kiki, who she called to the front of the classroom, reintroducing her to everyone and asking her questions about where she had been since she left. Halfway through the questions and answers, the door opened slowly. The familiar skirt and boot clad brunette walked in slowly, closing the door behind her. All of this she did without raising her head. She nodded a slight apology to her teacher, and looked around the room. Looking at Odd, She noted the new females book next to him and headed back towards the first open seat she saw… the one next to Theo. Ulrich began calling her name quietly, getting no response other than a shake of the head back.

"Uhh… why aren't you sitting with Ulrich? Or.. Odd…"

"I dunno." She answered in a sullen manner.

"Hey… I know we didn't really get off on the right track, but uhh… is something the matter?"

She raised her head slightly and scanned the boy sitting next to her. _He's actually pretty cute… and he seems like he cares… _"No. I just… I think Odd wants to get reacquainted with his friend."

"Kiki?"

"Yes."

"Whoa dude… they were more than _friends._"

Kiks' eyes opened wide in shock, her lip beginning to tremble. "They … were?"

"Yeah. Those two were like… all over each other… all the time… they were worse than Ulrich and Yumi… it was like… how Sissy wanted to be with Ulrich."

The brunette girl let out a slight fake laugh and a smile, betrayal welling up inside her.

"You think they still like each other?"

"I wouldn't doubt it… well.. I know Kiki still likes Odd, I heard them talking when they walked in. But… hold on, aren't you and Odd together?"

"Well… I thought we were… but… I don't know. If he likes her more, Id rather him be with her."

"I'm sorry… He didn't tell you anything about this… did he?"

"No."

"He probably had a reason… I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No… thankyou… I needed to know… I'm glad someone told me."

"Hey… Uh… I couldn't help but notice how you didn't try to talk to them this morning… you uh.. you wanna hang out… you know.. until you get everything straightened out? Id really like to start things over with you… when we're not fighting about Sissy…"

"Id like that. Thanks again, but don't you think Sissy would get a little mad?"

"She likes Ulrich."

"Oh… well… sure, I guess it couldn't hurt anything."

"Cool."

Jeremie poked Odd in the back as Kiki sat back down.

"What is it?"

"Did you ever tell Kiks about you and Kiki?"

"No…"

"Well… did you have a reason?"

"I didn't want to worry her, what with you having said the thing about Kiki filling in for her."

"Well…. Uh… Odd…."

"Yes."

"You may have a problem…"

"Why?"

"Judging from the wide eyed and shocked expression on Kiks face a minute ago, I'm willing to bet she knows about you and Kiki now."

"Who would have told her?"

"Did you happen to see who shes sitting with?"

"Ulrich.. isn't she?"  
"No."

"HUH!?" Odd turned as nonchalantly as possible to see Kiks and Theo having a friendly conversation, and more than anything, Theo hitting on her. He threw his head down on the table. "_Man._"

"What is it Odd?" Kiki asked in confusion.

"Theo's making moves on my g- Kiks."

"Isn't that good? Maybe her and Theo'll get together, after all… having a boyfriend relieves a lot of stress."

Odd didn't answer.

"Actually Kiki… uh… She does have a boyfriend." Jeremie said quietly.

"Really? Good for her!" She smiled. "Who?"

"Uh.. Odd."

Kiki turned back around to look at Odd, more confusion than before and eyes as wide as Kiks' had been. "You're… you're with … her?" She asked, her voice quivering. She turned back around to look at Kiks, who was looking back at her with her head down on her arms and tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't… why didn't you say something Odd?"

"I don't know." He said desperately. " I didn't want you to… to be mad at me."

"For moving on?"

"Yeah."

"Well… I'm not… I mean… I wouldn't have.. but… I can understand that you liked her too.. and … I was gone… so… I guess.. you know…"

"I'm sorry Kiki… I didn't expect you to come back…"

"I understand." She smiled at him. The same friendly look covering her face. "Why'd you… uh… she looks pretty upset Odd. Didn't you tell her anything?"

"I told her we were friends."

"Oh. Well… I know I wouldn't be too happy if I walked in to find my boyfriend sitting with another girl… hehe… I guess its good I didn't come in here late…" She laughed. "Sorry. But seriously… your girl doesn't look very happy."

The conversation was cut off by Kiks' voice. "Ms. Mayor, may I go to the infirmary? I'm really.. not feeling very good."

"Oh… Kiaka… You don't sound very good… What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. My chest is burning for some reason… I'm not sure what… but it hurts… can I go please?"

"Of course."

The class watched as she ran out of the room, her hand clutching the skin just below her neck.

"Ms. Mayor? Can I go check on her?" Ulrich asked.

"Well… normally I wouldn't allow it… but… I know you two are friends, so I suppose it would be ok."

"Thank you." He said, running after her. When he had gotten into the hall, he looked for the right direction. Not far up he could see her. _What on earth? _He thought, hearing a soft melody. _What's going on? _He ran after the girl as fast as he could, but even in her boots and skirt she was faster than him.

"Kiks! WAIT!" She didn't listen. Turning a corner fast enough to make his feet slightly slip out from under him he came to a dead stop.

"KIKS!?!?!" Up ahead of him, the shape and form of Kiks was floating in midair, a necklace around her neck had begun to glow intensely bright, and moments later her boots and clothing as well as her hair had begun to glow the same bright white. Her entire body was turning in the air and her eyes were closed, she looked as if she was free falling, but upwards. _It has to be something Xana's done. _He thought, running back to the classroom. He ran in, grabbed Odd and Jeremie and pulled them out. Kiki followed them, knowing it could only be a Xana alert.

"What's wrong with YOU!?" Odd asked in an extremely frustrated voice.

"What's wrong with me… I've heard this before… Your g—Kiks… THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME."

"WHAT'S HAPPENED TO HER?!?!" Odd yelled, running ahead of Ulrich.

" I don't know. Something Xana-ish?" He asked. Before the had turned the corner, they could see the light. Kiks was exactly as she had been when Ulrich left.

"Wow. You didn't tell me she could float…" Kiki retorted.

"Shes not supposed to." Odd answered.

"Actually…"Commented Jeremie, "I've got a feeling she is."

"WHAT?!"

"Uh… think about where she came from."

"Crap."  
"What are you _talking about?_" Kiki asked.

"You don't want to know."

"MY guess is… that her emotions trigger something… whatever that is…" Jeremie replied, pointing at her. As in response to his answer, Kiks dropped, landing gracefully like a cat with one leg down, the other knee up, and her arms to the sides. Black streaks had appeared in her hair, and the necklace she had been wearing now had the Lyoko symbol on it, glowing a bright red. Out of nowhere, laughing began to be heard. From somewhere behind them, they could hear footsteps.

"What's going on?!" Odd asked. Just then, a boy with spiky black hair walked around the corner. He was wearing a necklace identical to Kiks' and his hair had blonde tips on its inch long spikes. He walked past the group, straight over to Kiks, who he grabbed softly by the hand, pulling her up.

She looked at him in confusion. "Shadow?"

He nodded at her.

"How did you… you were… how did you get here?"

"The same way you did… _obviously._" He said. Pointing out the similarity in attire.

"Oh my god." 


	15. The Lost, THe Found, and the Heartbroken

I know I know I know... It took me like... 4 months to update this.. by the way... gotten better since last I updated!!! ..and the update I have made is amazingly pathetic... PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!! Time factors, you know how it is... with SATs and all..... shudder.. its horrible!!! Okay... well.... this is enough to make up for that last cliffy.. even though... it half ends in another cliff hanger..... but.... Im gonna try to make a point to update as often as possible... at least once every two weeks... but more than likely more often than that. SO yes... I realllllly hope you like this.. and anyone thats still with me on this fic... THANKYOU SO MUCH!!! I LOVE YOU!

"After you disappeared, Sol got out of jail.... They released her, having come to the conclusion that she did what she did out of self defense... She got home to find you gone and went crazy... We both tried to find you, but you know Sol, she had warned you about something before you disappeared, and she was set in believing that you were kidnapped, and hadn't run away. Turns out she was right, eh?" The boy named Shadow asked quietly.

Kiks looked at him peculiarly, "Indeed."

"Well, either way, me and Sol both found out where you'd gone at the same time. Sol's in Lyoko... so was I.. but I got out."

"Xana isn't using you like me... is he?"

"No. We got in on our own... We weren't brought in. He might suspect his old buddy Sol being there, but doesn't know for a fact that she is."

A wave of uneasiness came over Kiks. "So she got out of one trouble.... and into another?"

"I guess.. but its Sol you're talking about, she can take care of herself." The boys attention now turned to the group of people staring at him and Kiks. "Uhh....."

"Kiiiikkss???" Ulrich asked quietly, managing to get her to look up at him.

"Oh... This is Shadow, Ulrich. He's from back home... Where I came from."

Shadow nodded in his direction.

"Ah." Ulrich responded.

"We were _really good friends._" She added with a note of sarcasm and gloom.

Odd's eyes opened a little wider and he looked at Kiks in disbelief. She looked up to meet his stare, and with frustration responded, "What? You're allowed to have old girlfriends randomly show up and tell me that they are just friends, but I'm not allowed to say the same about boyfriends?" She shook her head slowly and walked around him, out the hall.

"What'd you do to her?" Shadow asked him.

"Nothing of your concern." Odd replied with a new found jealousy of the newcomer.

"If you upset her... then it _is _my concern."

"You don't belong here. Mind your own business."

The two were face to face, less than a foot between them when Ulrich got in between them and split them up. "You two can't be fighting right now... It isn't doing anyone any good. Odd.... just... go with Kiki..... and search Lyoko or something... try to find this "Sol" person--"

"I think you need to leave that to Kia. It's her sister." Shadow commented, giving a slight look at Kiki.

"He's right," Jeremie interjected, speaking for the first time since Shadow's arrival. "Kiks is only going to be madder under current circumstances if you send those two off to look for _her _sister. That won't be helping anyone. At the moment, I don't think they should have anything to do with this... . No offense, guys."

Ulrich turned back to face Jeremie. "What should they be doing instead?"

"Telling Yumi whats going on... other than that... well... I think that "vacation" needs to switch from Kiks to Odd and Kiki."

"Sending Odd off on a vacation with Kiki... yeah... Kiks'll love that." Replied the familiar voice of Yumi.

"_Yumi? _What are you doing out here?"

"I went out for water and couldn't help but see Kiks walk out the door. I have to say... that makeover is a little more punk than I expected from her.. but... I suppose it does her justice." Her focus now hit Shadow. "Who's he? Kik's twin brother?"

Odd snorted angrily.

"Someone from where Kiks came from." Replied Jeremie. "His name is Shadow.... and it's not a twin brother."

"It's an old boyfriend." Ulrich finished, only to be cut off by Shadow.

"We never dated. We almost did.. but.. we were to close of friends..... that's how I could tell that your little friend over there did something to her."

The group turned to look at him.

"If its all the same with you all.. Id like to know what exactly you did to make her mad."

"Its none of your busine----"

"The girl standing next to him, Kiki, came back after moving away. She's been gone for something like 3 or 4 years.... but was Odd's old girlfriend. When Kiks got here, she started dating him. Kiki shows back up.... Odd neglected to tell her that Kiki and him had dated... we tried to give Kiks a vacation, she thought we were replacing her, then is told by some idiot in our class that there was an Odd-Kiki incident and blew a gasket."

Shadow shook his head disapprovingly at Odd. "I don't see how you could do that to Kia...."

"Who is _Kia?_"

Ulrich slapped him in the back of the head. "Are you just stupid Odd? Let me see... Kia... Kiks.. Kia .. Kiks.."

"HEY! Watch it! I'm just not used to hearing her called Kia."

"I'm not used to hearing her called Kiks." Shadow commented.

"You.... just deal with it."

"Guys! STOP!" Yumi yelled. "Odd... you and Kiki.. go somewhere... we'll call you when we need you. Jeremie, Ulrich... go to the lab... Me and Shadow are going to go make sure Kiks isn't still here--"

"She's at the lab." Odd said quietly. "That's what she did last time.. she went into the lab.. shes expecting you all to go and let her enter Lyoko."

"Would you be speaking of the time that she refused to leave Lyoko Odd?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes..."

"Ah. I guess you might be right... its worth a shot..... just... when you and Kiki are in your .... roaming.... if you see Kiks, call us. We'll all go to the lab." He said to the others.

"Alright." They replied, heading for the exit.

10 minutes later, the group entered the lab area. There was no one in sight.

"She would have to be here though...." Yumi said quietly, looking in all directions.

"I think she's already been here." Came the voice of Jeremie, who had moved over to his computer, gaining focus on a flashing green light emitting from his monitor. "She's been here and set the scanners on Timer.. allowing herself to get to Lyoko."

"That... are we... are we sure that that was a good idea Jeremie.. I mean.. she hasn't been in Lyoko since......"

"Since the accident.. I know. .. Normally Id say that it were a big problem, because when last we checked, hers and Odd's forms had both been Reinstalled in the computer by them, but were more than likely re-deleted when the devirtualized themselves...."

"So she doesnt have a form in Lyoko right now... right??" Ulrich asked in confusion.

"Heh.. Love to say that, but you forget that between Kiks' amazing computer code makeup and the fact that she's the only person nearly as smart as me..... She managed to fix... or at least, make shift fix her program. I want to run some checks, I'm not entirely sure that the program is 100 correct, and if it isnt, we could potentially be dealing with what happened last time all over again. Just... without ... the form."

"In _other words_," Yumi interjected. "We'll be dealing with the same thing except for the fact that she wont exist in virtualized form when she devirtualizes, so instead of Lyoko form leaving the scanner, nothing will.. .correct?"

"Errr...... Yeahhhh..."

Shadow looked at the three in complete and utter confusion. "What's going on?"

"Well, basically... Kiks did some little computer hobo on her program to make it work, but if she screwed up anywhere in the computer code, then when she tries to leave Lyoko, or even does to much work there, tries to use any of her high strung powers, etc. etc., shes doomed and will be lost in the never ending abyss of computer code that is Lyoko... for good."

"I can help her.. LET ME IN!!!" Came his reaction.

"Dude... you dont have a form. We can't get you into Lyoko... Until your form is on _that _computer." Ulrich replied, pointing.

Shadow looked at it uneasily.

"I have a feeling that you arent as made for rewriting your own form program as she was.... are you?"

Another uneasy look. "No. Im not. I cant even look at it."

Ulrich and Jeremie both sighed. "This is gonna be a _long _night."

Well thats that. Right? Yes. Quick note for you peoples who like this story, and Ties that Bind/Aftermath from Yumigirl06, my partner in crime...:::::::

At the moment, we are in the process of planning out a new fanfic. It isn't Code Lyoko though, its Teen Titans... BUT ITS STILL GONNA BE AWESOME!! I PROMISE!!! New character... New spin on plot.... just.. new stuff... and the new character.. .. I promise you..... you will _love _her!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely LOOOOVE HER! Because.. I said so. So deal with it.... Okay.. anyways.... Anyone who wishes to get a sneak peek of the new story, I'm beginning to post pictures for the fic on my Deviantart Site. ... Yes... I draw stuffs... and because me and Yumigirl06 live soooo far away... Easiest way to show her what I have in mind.. Is by drawing stuff!!!! So.. If you want to look, if the picture looks Teen titanish.. or has ::: FF.N Next to the name.... Its a pic for the story.. THANKYOU!!!

DEVIANTART SITE::: 

Hope to see you reading the new story when its unveiled!!

This program is brought to you by open time slots in Angel Soleil's schedule........ and pleading from ...readers... like _you_... yes... _you._


	16. NOTE FOR YOU PEEPS ABOUT OTHER FIC!

About the teen titans fic sneeks on deviantart...................... the link doesnt show up... err... .. type ........

obviously without all those dots.. but... if I dont put all those dots.. the thing wont show up... soo .. to review.... www ........ ... but where there are lots of dots.. you only put one... sorry thats so confusing!


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